Warriors: Brightheart and Hawkfrost
by IHeartFantasy
Summary: Brightheart is from WindClan. Hawkfrost is from RiverClan. When these two met, love blossoms between the two. Only, what will Tigerstar think? -DISCONTINUED-
1. Allegiances

**(Yo, just wanted to say I'll be working on this for a couple of days. The actual document is very long, so I'll go by five chapters, including allegiances. WARNING: The Brightheart in this is MY character. Most of the other cats-the additional ones I added in-are my own creations and inspired by real people in my life. Enjoy!)**

ALLEGIANCES

**WINDCLAN**

LEADER **ONESTAR****—**brown tabby tom

**APPRENTICE, FLOWERPAW**

DEPUTY **BRIGHTBREATH****—**golden-yellow

she-cat with pale-blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, MOUSEPAW**

MEDICINE CAT **BARKFACE****—**short-tailed brown

tom

WARRIORS (toms and she-cats without kits)

**ASHFOOT**—gray she-cat

**TORNEAR****—**tabby tom

**APPRENTICE, BRAMBLEPAW**

**WEBFOOT****—**dark gray tabby tom

**APPRENTICE, ROCKPAW**

**BRAMBLEBREATH****—**yellow tom

with pale-blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, HAWKPAW**

**LEOPARDHEART****—**golden-yellow

she-cat with pale-blue eye

**APPRENTICE, STONEPAW**

**CROWFEATHER****—**dark gray tom

**APPRENTICE, BRIGHTPAW**

**OWLWHISKER****—**light brown tabby

tom

**APPRENTICE, SCARPAW**

**NIGHTCLOUD****—**black she-cat

**APPRENTICE, BRAMBLEPAW**

**WEASELFUR****—**ginger tom with

white paws

**APPRENTICE, SWIFTPAW**

APPRENTICES (more than six moons old, in training to become warriors)

**SWIFTPAW****—**golden tabby tom with

blue eyes

**ROCKPAW****—**brown tabby tom with

blue eyes

**FLOWERPAW****—**black tom with

amber eyes

**BRAMBLEPAW****—**brown tabby tom

with amber eyes

**MOUSEPAW****—**very dark brown she-

cat with blue eyes

**SCARPAW****—**dark brown she-cat

with green eyes

**HAWKPAW****—**golden tabby tom with

blue eyes

**BRAMBLEPAW****—**brown she-cat

with amber eyes

**STONEPAW****—**brown tabby tom with

amber eyes

**BRIGHTPAW****—**light brown she-cat with unusual

brown eyes like pelt

QUEENS (she-cats expecting or nursing kits)

**WHITETAIL****—**small white she-cat

ELDERS (former warriors and queens, now retired)

**SCARTAIL****—**pale-yellow she-cat

with pale-blue eyes

**SWIFTEYES****—**brown tabby tom with

pale-blue eyes

**MORNINGFLOWER****—**tortoiseshell queen

**RUSHTAIL****—**light brown tom

**RIVERCLAN **

LEADER **LEOPARDSTAR****—**unusually spotted

golden tabby she-cat

DEPUTY **MISTYFOOT****—**gray she-cat with blue

eyes

MEDICINE CAT **MOTHWING****—**dappled golden she-cat

**APPRENTICE, WILLOWPAW**

WARRIORS

B**LACKCLAW****—**smoky black tom

**APPRENTICE, BEECHPAW**

**SANDBREATH****—**golden tabby tom

with amber eyes

**APPRENTICE, SPOTTEDPAW **(golden tom with

blue eyes)

**HAWKFROST****—**dark brown tom with a

white underbelly and ice-blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, LEOPARDPAW **(golden tabby

she-cat with blue eyes)

**VOLETOOTH****—**small brown tabby tom

**SWALLOWTAIL****—**dark tabby she-cat

**STONESTREAM****—**gray tom

**REEDWHISKER****—**black tom

**APPRETINCE, RIPPLEPAW**

QUEENS **MOSSPELT****—**tortoiseshell she-cat with blue

eyes

**DAWNFLOWER****—**pale gray she-cat

ELDERS**HEAVYSTEP****—**thickest tabby tom

**SHADOWCLAN**

LEADER **BLACKSTAR****—**large white tom with huge jet

black paws

DEPUTY **RUSSETFUR****—**dark ginger she-cat

MEDICINCE CAT **LITTLECLOUD****—**very small tabby tom

WARRIORS

** SCARTALON****—**brown tabby tom with amber

eyes

**OAKFUR****—**small brown tom

** APPRENTICE, SMOKEPAW **(black tom)

** SWIFTPATH****—**brown tabby tom with amber

eyes

**RAINBREATH****—**golden tabby she-cat with

amber eyes

**CEDARHEART****—**dark gray tom

**ROWANCLAW****—**ginger tom

**TAWNYPELT****—**tortoiseshell she-cat with

green eyes

**BRAMBLEBREATH****—**brown tabby tom

with blue eyes

**BRAMBLEPATH****—**brown tabby tom with

green eyes

**APPRENTICE, RAINPAW **(she-cat with white coat dappled with black spots, large blue-green eyes, long black tail with white stripes, and pink nose)

QUEENS **TALLPOPPY****—**long-legged light brown she-cat

with green eyes

ELDERS **SPOTTEDNOSE****—**white she-cat with blue

eyes

**TANGLEEYES****—**white tom with amber eyes

** BOULDER****—**skinny gray tom

**THUNDERCLAN**

LEADER **FIRESTAR****—**ginger tom with a flame

colored pelt

DEPUTY **GRAYSTRIPE****—**long-haired gray tom

MEDICINCE CAT **LEAFPOOL****—**light brown tabby she-cat

with amber eyes

WARRIORS **DUSTPELT****—**dark brown tabby tom

**SANDSTORM****—**pale ginger she-cat

**CLOUDTAIL****—**long-haired white tom

** BRACKENFUR****—**golden brown tabby tom

** APPRENTICE, WHITEPAW **(white she-cat with green eyes)

** THORNCLAW****—**golden brown tabby tom

** BRIGHTHEART****—**white she-cat with ginger patches

** BRAMBLECLAW****—**dark brown tabby tom

with amber eyes

**ASHFUR****—**pale gray (with darker flecks)

tom, dark blue eyes

**APPRENTICE, BIRCHPAW **(light brown tabby tom)

** RAINWHISKER****—**dark gray tom with blue

Eyes

**SQUIRRELFLGHT****—**dark ginger she-cat

with green eyes

**SPIDERLEG****—**long-limbed black tom with

brown underbelly and amber eyes

QUEENS **FERNCLOUD****—**pale gray (with darker

flecks) she-cat, green eyes, mother of Dustpelt's

kits

**SORRELTAIL****—**tortoiseshell-and-white she

cat with amber eyes

**DAISY****—**cream colored, long-furred cat from

horseplace

ELDERS **GOLDENFLOWER****—**pale ginger coat, the

oldest nursery queen

**LONGTAIL****—**pale tabby tom with dark black

stripes, retired early due to failing sight

**MOUSEFUR****—**small dusky brown she-cat


	2. Prologue

P R O L O G U E

_Onestar stared in disbelief at his _deputy as she lay on the moss licking her just new-born kit; she had managed to only have one. Normally she-cats had more than one, it just wasn't normal to have just one kit. But sometimes a she-cat can only have one, which was very rare.

But that didn't matter; he had a bigger problem right now. What Onestar couldn't believe was that the father _wasn't _in WindClan; he was in _ShadowClan_.

Scartalon sat near Brightbreath, his eyes glowing brightly and proudly at his mate, his eyes scanned on the kit, which had the same brown pelt as he did.

Blackstar sat next to Onestar, his eyes narrowed at his warrior; he couldn't believe Scartalon had chosen a warrior from another Clan for his mate.

"Scartalon, you're _much _better than this," Blackstar meowed, "You _know _the warrior code. How could you choose a mate from…from…" Blackstar's words trailed off: Brightbreath stared at him with her eyes narrowed, as if challenging him to continue, she wanted to hear what he had to say.

"Go on."

"…from _WindClan_…"

Scartalon narrowed his eyes at his leader, he didn't like the way he spoke to Brightbreath: after all, she was his mate, and Blackstar should accept any she-cat he chose, no matter what Clan she came from.

He rubbed his head against Brightbreath's cheek; he could hear her purring softly at his touch.

"Say what you want about my daughter, Brightkit will always be a _loyal _WindClan warrior, no matter what kin she has."

"You named her after you," Blackstar meowed to Brightbreath, ignoring Scartalon's hiss: he didn't like the way his warrior was treating him, he was Clan leader, after all.

"Yes," replied Brightbreath, surprised to be advised by ShadowClan's leader so kindly; he had been treating her scornfully ever since he had heard of her having Scartalon's kits. "It felt right, she looks like her father."

Barkface, the WindClan medicine cat, opened his eyes. One-star walked to him: a couple of heartbeats earlier he had closed them as if a spirit was speaking to him. "What has StarClan told you?"

Barkface stared at Brightkit; he was watching the tiny buddle drink milk from its mother's nipples. "A big future awaits her; I sense she's not normal."

Scartalon's tail twitched: he didn't like the tone Barkface spoke with; it was as if something bad would happen. "Is something going to happen?"

Barkface turned to him; he looked like he had just noticed the warrior. "Later in time, yes, something _will _happen."

Brightbreath had begun licking her daughter: now she stopped licking her to look up at her medicine cat, her eyes filled with concern. "Can you find out what it is?" she meowed.

"When StarClan wants to tell me something, yes—" Barkface's eyes flickered: Onestar turned to Barkface; he knew he had seen something.

"StarClan…have they…have they shown you something?"

Barkface slowly walked up to Brightkit: the other's followed his gaze; the tiny sightless kit was now curling up to sleep.

Barkface looked at the others: they looked at him courisly; they didn't know what he would say now.

Barkface's eyes darkened: and he spoke, with a voice of a StarClan cat, "_There is a cat whose heart is as bright as the stars. She understands the making of music; she will begin a generation of change for the Clans. But be warned: some things along the way of her journey will be painful_."

Scartalon stared at the medicine cat as if a cat lay dying right in front of him: Brightbreath stared at her daughter, her tail curling up against it protectively.

"Do you know that that _even _means?"

Barkface turned to see Blackstar looking at him furiously: his hair was on end, and his claws were scrapping the ground, it was clear he didn't believe the prophecy.

"No, sadly I have no idea what it means," Barkface meowed, his eyes narrowed, and he added, "you should treat your medicine cats more respectively; it takes time to figure out these prophecies we receive."

"Hmph."

Barkface turned his back on Blackstar and turned to face Scartalon and Brightbreath, both were looking at him worried, they wanted to know if it was really going to come true.

"You may have the strangest kit in the world. She may possess many different powers, more than StarClan," he mewed gently.

Brightbreath stared at her kit worriedly: she wasn't sure she could believe her only daughter could be a subject to a prophecy. "I don't know..."

Onestar walked to Scartalon and rested his tail-tip on his shoulder; Scartalon looked at the WindClan leader.

"May StarClan light her path…"


	3. Chapter 1

C H A P T E R 1

_Brightpaw opened her eyes_. _She got _up, stretched her muscles, and walked out of the apprentice den. She looked up; the sky was bright blue, with no clouds, a perfect day for hunting. She yawned and stretched, she felt her limbs creak from the effort, ready for an action-packed day. She was now twelve moon-old: it was the day she had been born.

Brightpaw scanned WindClan's camp for one cat in particular: she stopped her mentor; Crowfeather was at the fresh-kill pile, picking a big, gray rabbit.

She watched him as he eat; he tore the rabbit apart, eating in quick gulps as if he was hurrying for something. He must have something special planned for her, only then he would be rushing so it would look like he had been waiting for her to wake since dawn.

Her fur prickled with excitement, her eyes gleamed, her claws came out of her paws and she began tearing at the ground. She wanted him to hurry up eating. What had Crowfeather planned for her today?

Brightpaw ran around hiding behind bushes, she wanted to scare him as a greeting for the mourning; she was getting pretty good at stalking her prey.

She rested her stomach on the ground, and one by one, she put her paws in front of the other silently behind the bushes to the pile, Brightpaw wanted to be right in front of the fresh-kill pile.

When she was right in front of it, she glanced at Crowfeather; he was still eating fast, thinking she was still asleep. Her bottom swayed side-to-side as she readied herself for the jump: he'd have no idea what'd hit him.

She jumped. She landed right on him; Crowfeather dropped the rabbit and shook himself to get her off him: she soured through the air, spun around, and landed right behind him.

"Enemy warriors are attacking the camp!" he screeched: cats who heard him around the clearing turned to Crowfeather, their fur raised and claws out ready to defend the camp.

He spun around to face Brightpaw: his eyes gleaming for the light of battle, his mouth open in a snarl, she could see his yellow teeth, and he hissed, not recognizing her just yet.

"What are you doing—" his words were cut off when Crowfeather realized it was just his apprentice; Brightpaw was giggling at the sight of him.

"Brightpaw!" he scolded, his tail lashing side-to-side, he didn't think her joke was funny; she was still giggling at him. "Was that you? Why'd you do that? Don't _ever _do a stunt like that again; you could have caused real panic to the cats around you!"

"I'm sorry," murmured Brightpaw, looking at her paws. "I saw you eating and I thought it would be funny if I jumped on you, I didn't think at all about the panic I could've caused. I'm sorry I did a stupid thing, it won't happen again."

"I appreciate you being so apologetic about your behavior, Brightpaw; it shows you're very mature. But it was still wrong to do that," meowed Crowfeather.

"Brightpaw, could I speak to you for a moment?"

Brightpaw turned her head to see her mother, Brightbreath, WindClan's deputy, with her apprentice, Mousepaw, looking at her concerned.

"Oh…okay…"

Brightbreath lead her daughter and apprentice to a side away from other cats: it was more private for her; she wanted to talk to Brightpaw alone.

She turned to face them as she sat down; both apprentices sat looking up at her courisly, waiting for her to speak. Brightbreath flicked her tail; Mousepaw left them so she could talk.

Once Mousepaw was out of hearing-range, Brightbreath spoke. "Brightpaw, I just heard you jumped on Crowfeather. He screamed pretty loudly, I was talking to Onestar about something when I heard him: in fact, I think the entire camp heard.

"I don't want you doing that anymore, you gave everyone quite a scare of what you did. What if the other Clans heard this? What would they think of WindClan's deputy's daughter if she pulled such a horrible prank?"

Brightpaw opened her mouth to speak: then closed it, from Brightbreath's face she didn't want to be interrupted, she didn't want to be scolded for interrupting. Suddenly she noticed Bright-breath was looking at her, she clearly wanted her to answer.

"They'd think I'm wild and out of control, and that WindClan doesn't take good care of their apprentices," she muttered, glancing at Crowfeather, who was watching them: he was clearing listening to their conversation.

"That's right," Brightbreath meowed, "and I don't want them to think that: I want them to think that you're a smart, beautiful, daring cat who always is ready to defend her Clanmates." She looked at Brightpaw courisly. "You would defend them, wouldn't you?"

"Of course!" Brightpaw answered, standing up, her tail lashing side-to-side. Why would her mother doubt her loyalty? Because she was half-Clan? Did her own mother think she'd leave the Clans? That she'd plot against her own family? That she didn't want to be a warrior? Was it because of her powers? Did she know about them?

"I'm just checking, Brightpaw: there's no need to get so upset over one simple question," Brightbreath told her quietly.

"Crowfeather! Come over here!" Brightbreath suddenly called across the clearing: Crowfeather jumped at the sudden yell, he got up and walked over to them.

"What is it, Brightbreath?"

Brightbreath flicked her tail at Mousepaw, who was talking to Stonepaw across the clearing; Brightpaw knew she wanted to talk to Crowfeather alone.

She got up and pounced over there; Mousepaw saw her coming and stood.

"Hi Brightpaw!" she meowed ecstatically. "It's your birthday! Happy birthday!"

"Yeah, happy birthday!" added Stonepaw, getting up and nuzzling Brightpaw: she blushed from this gesture. Normally Stonepaw wouldn't do anything like that, being that he was Bramblepaw's younger brother: Bramblepaw was one of Brightpaw's best friends, she never al-lowed him to be romantic-like to her.

"Oh, thanks, guys," Brightpaw meowed, "I didn't think anyone would notice: I'm the youngest of all the apprentices, after all, and I'm half-Clan, why would anyone want to celebrate _my _birthday?"

"I don't know." Mousepaw shrugged: Stonepaw looked at the ground, they didn't have any idea.

"Oh, look, it's Flowerpaw and Scarpaw," Stonepaw murmured and flicked his tail at the two apprentices: Brightpaw saw Flowerpaw's black pelt and Scarpaw's dark brown fur flicker past her from the corner of her eye, they seemed to be talking to each other. Flowerpaw was a black tom with amber eyes; Scarpaw was a dark brown she-cat with green eyes.

Mousepaw shook her head. "They'll become mates for sure; Flowerpaw has been chasing her for moons."

"Stonepaw! C'mon, we're going hunting!"

"I've gotta go," Stonepaw muttered as he ran to catch up with Leopardheart, his mentor.

Brightpaw saw her mother get up and walk toward Leopardheart: she was done talking to Crowfeather and was going hunting; Stonepaw and Mousepaw were going to hunt together.

Crowfeather was walking to her, his eyes gleaming and his tail up high, he seemed to have forgotten the prank Brightpaw pulled. Had he forgiven her?

"We are going hunting with Onestar," he told her.

_Onestar! The Clan leader! What an honor! I wonder why Crowfeather wants me to go hunting with WindClan's leader: it looks as if Brightbreath and Crowfeather had planned this_, Brightpaw thought. _I wonder why?_

"C'mon, Onestar's waiting at the top of the hill, we're hunting near the ThunderClan border," Crowfeather meowed, and without waiting for her to speak, turned and walked away.

Brightpaw gulped: she wasn't sure she was ready for hunting with _Onestar_, the Clan leader. Sometimes they spoke to each other, but just for saying hi: she wasn't sure she was ready.

She followed Crowfeather silently; he didn't even bother explaining _why _they were hunting with Onestar. _Am I in trouble?_ Brightpaw wondered. Brightpaw was always good: she did what Crowfeather did, she followed directions, she took punishments without a word, and she always followed the warrior code. Why would Onestar be angry with her? Had he heard about the prank she did on Crowfeather earlier? Was he going to punish her?

They reached Onestar: he was sitting down calmly, his fur shining; it looked like he had just groomed himself. He didn't look like he was angry at Brightpaw at all: it fact he looked at her with amusement in his eyes, as if she had done nothing wrong.

Brightpaw gulped: she suddenly felt hot; everything felt like a nightmare, she just wanted to wake up, wake up in the real world. She began getting uneasy; she had the urge to run away.

"There's nothing to be afraid of, Brightpaw," Onestar meowed, noticing her uneasiness. "I'm just checking how far you are in your warrior training; you're going to show me what you can do."

"Oh."

"Come."

Onestar stood up and began walking toward the river where ThunderClan's boarder was: Crowfeather and Brightpaw followed.

"Now, do you know why I want to see how far you are, Bright-paw?" Onestar meowed to Brightpaw as they walked; he was talking causally to her.

"No, not really," Brightpaw answered, what she said was true; she had absolutely no idea why she was being assessmented.

"Well, as you know, Brightpaw, it's your birthday: a very special day indeed, you're a twelve-moons old, a year," Onestar explained, "and Brightbreath, as expected of her being your mother, after all, is very proud to see you grow up so quickly. She still remembers the day you were kitted." He turned to Brightpaw, she looked into his amber eyes, and she saw them glitter from the sunlight.

"Am I going too fast for you?"

She shook her head: Onestar continued explaining, "And we think it's about time you've had your warrior ceremony: you listen very well and follow the warrior code wisely, you're worthy to become one for our warriors.

"However, just making you a warrior isn't fair: it isn't in the warrior code, and we must follow it no matter what. So Brightbreath, Crowfeather, and I thought that perhaps we would have simple assessments today, just to check if we're doing the right thing."

"Okay."

Onestar was now walking along the river; Crowfeather flaked on his right side and Brightpaw on the other, keeping pace.

Brightpaw looked behind her; she saw the hills along the up-stream of the river. The Clans' medicine cats meet at the Moon-pool every half-moon to speak to StarClan: Brightpaw knew if she headed up the river she'd arrive at the Moonpool.

"Brightpaw, c'mon!"

Brightpaw looked ahead and realized she had fallen behind; Crowfeather was looking back at her.

"Sorry!" she called, and dashed up to his side; he flicked her ear with his tail, his eyes gleaming.

"What are you thinkin' about?" he whispered.

"I was just looking at the river; it leads toward the Moonpool, doesn't it?" Brightpaw asked.

"Yes, yes it does."

A couple of feet away Onestar was lying on the ground: he flicked his tail at them; Crowfeather and Brightpaw ran up to him and silently lay next to him.

"Okay, Brightpaw, do you see that hare over there?" Onestar murmured, pointing his chin toward the bushes, Brightpaw looked over where he was pointing. At first she didn't see anything but grass and bush: suddenly a brown pelt flickered out of a nearby bush, it was definitely a rabbit.

"Yes, yes, I just saw it!" she meowed.

"Then what are you waiting for? Go after it!" Onestar meowed.

Brightpaw dashed away: a gust of wind hit Crowfeather and Onestar; they looked at each other sheepishly.

Brightpaw knew she was using her super-speed power: she could barely feel the ground as she ran after the rabbit.

When she was born, StarClan came to her and told her she was the suspect of a prophecy. She had asked them why she was, but they didn't say: all they told her was that she had powers that couldn't be matched. They taught what they were and how to use them into advanced: that was why she knew how to control them so well.

Her super-speed came handy in hunting; the prey was fast, especially rabbits.

It ducked under and over logs: she just copied it; nothing could stop her when she was on pursuit.

The rabbit was heading toward the river! Brightpaw gasped: if the rabbit got into ThunderClan territory, she couldn't catch it there; the warrior code said you couldn't hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory.

She picked up speed; the rabbit was almost at the river.

But it didn't jump over the river at all; it went right _into _it and began swimming!

_Wow! A rabbit that can swim! You don't see those everyday! Too bad it had a much young life!_ Brightpaw thought.

She gave out a mighty leap: thanks to her perfect judging of distance she land right on top of it. Water blinded her; she had to close her eyes so the water wouldn't hurt them. But she didn't need to see anyway: she had her super-sense power to know where the rabbit was.

The rabbit swirled around under the water: she felt pain in her stomach and smelled blood, the rabbit must have cut her. But the pain disappeared right away; Brightpaw couldn't get hurt in anyway, unless the source was so powerful it could kill her.

She dived right at the rabbit: it tried to slash at her, she dodged its attack. She was also a great swimmer too, like RiverClan cats.

She swam behind the rabbit and bit hard in its neck. She smelled blood, and she knew it was dead; it didn't even try saving itself.

She swam to the bottom of the river, she hunched up her muscles, checking she was in the direction of WindClan's side of the river, and jumped: she gave out a big splash as she came out.

She shook her pelt off, water flew in all directions.

Brightpaw saw that Onestar and Crowfeather were right in front of her: they were soaking wet from the splash. Crowfeather looked at her surprised; he must have that she had drowned under there. Onestar wasn't looking at her; he was looking at the rabbit, which was soaking wet.

"Brightpaw—how?" Onestar murmured it so quietly Bright-paw almost missed it: he probably couldn't believe she had come out alive, after being in the river so long.

"I caught it, Onestar, I caught the rabbit!" Brightpaw meowed excitedly.

"But…how did you get it?" Onestar asked. "You jumped into the river; you might've drowned after being in there for so long."

"Well, I didn't drown: I used one of my powers to help me breath. That's how I got the rabbit," Brightpaw explained.

"Oh…right…"

Brightpaw looked at the ground; sometimes she thought no one believed her that she had special powers. She knew she had them, because she felt the energy inside her. But some cats just thought she was a show-off, they thought she just wanted special attention for being the Clan's deputy's daughter. But she never told anyone that she was a suspect of a prophecy: StarClan forbidden it, they knew if any cat found out she had more power than StarClan they'd try to use Brightpaw for some purposes… evil purposes.

"C'mon, let's head back toward camp, I think that's enough for today," Onestar murmured, and ran toward the direction of camp.

Brightpaw almost objected: she just caught a rabbit, and that was it. Onestar hadn't asked her any questions on what to do on prey or anything. _He must be in shock after me jumping out: any ca would, after all, I would have drowned for being in there for so long_, Brightpaw thought.

She picked up her prey and ran to catch up to her mentor, but the weight of the rabbit slowed her down: it was still very wet from the river.

Crowfeather walked over and asked, "Need a paw?"

Brightpaw nodded. Crowfeather picked up the end of the rabbit and together he and Brightpaw slowly made their way to WindClan's camp.

"May those cats who are old enough to catch their own prey gather below the Tallrock for a Clan meeting!" Onestar's yowl sounded all around the camp.

Bramblepaw, Hawkpaw, Stonepaw, Mousepaw, Scarpaw, Flowerpaw, Bramblepaw, Swiftpaw, and Rockpaw sat gathered below the Tallrock.

Swiftpaw glared at their leader angrily, he couldn't believe that Brightpaw _just might _become a warrior today: after all, he and Rockpaw were the oldest of the apprentices; _they _deserved the title of a warrior.

By now the Clan was gathered.

Brightpaw sat next to Onestar, with a half-dry rabbit at her paws, Crowfeather, her mentor, was looking at it.

_She must have caught it_, Swiftpaw thought stubbornly.

"As you can see, Brightpaw has caught a rabbit," Onestar start-ed, "but not in the correct way we hunt: she caught it by jumping into a _river_. She used her powers to catch it."

Swiftpaw spat at the ground, he didn't believe a word of Brightpaw having special powers. It was simply a stupid rumor, was all he believed. How could a cat have powers? Have powers more than StarClan? More than their _own _ancestors?

"So today, I believe it is time for her to become a warrior, as she deserves her title."

Swiftpaw's mouth dropped: he was dumbfounded, he wasn't sure he heard Onestar right. "What?"

Brightpaw jumped down and sat facing Onestar: Brightbreath ran to her and joined her daughter.

"I, Onestar, leader of WindClan, call upon our warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice," meowed Onestar.

Brightpaw felt the gaze of StarClan on her: even though it was daytime, she knew that they were watching, watching her become a warrior at last.

"She has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend her to you as warrior in her turn.

"Brightpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your life?"

Brightpaw jumped up and yowled, "I DO!"

"Then by the powers of StarClan I give you your warrior name," Onestar meowed. "Brightpaw, from this moment you'll be known as Brightheart. StarClan honors your determination and skills, and we welcome you as a full warrior of WindClan."

Onestar jumped down in front of Brightheart. She gave him a respectful lick on the shoulder.

"Tonight, while we get a good night sleep, Brightheart will guard the camp, as one of the warrior rituals new warriors perform."

"Brightheart! Brightheart! Brightheart!" Brightbreath started the cheer; she was looking at her daughter with proud eyes. Soon the apprentices joined in, even Swiftpaw, as much as he hated Brightheart. Soon the entire Clan was shouting her name.

Brightheart couldn't believe the day had come. She was a warrior. _At last!_


	4. Chapter 2

C H A P T E R 2

_Hawkfrost stretched out his body, he _felt hismuscles creak with the effort of waking up. He looked at the sky: it was partly cloudy right now, even if the sun was covered. He knew it was sun-high, he had slept in; when he woke up he was the only one in the warrior's den.

"Hawkfrost!"

He turned to see his apprentice, Leopardpaw, her tail up high and her eyes sparkling: she seemed ready to train today.

"What are we doing today? Hunting? Training my battle moves? Patrolling the boarders?"

"Actually, Leopardpaw, I told Mothwing I'd help her find some herbs today," Hawkfrost meowed, "so maybe instead you can go with your brother Spottedpaw, he's going hunting today, from what I've heard."

"Oh…okay..."

Hawkfrost flinched at how sad his apprentice was: she had been so excited to become a warrior apprentice, but was broken-hearted when she found out she couldn't train with her brother, as they did everything together. He was training as a warrior, too, but that still didn't cheer her up.

"C'mon." He flicked his tail on her ear. "At last you're going to be with your brother, okay? It's not the end of the world. It's not like he's training to be a medicine cat or something."

Leopardpaw giggled happily, she couldn't imagine her brother as a medicine cat. "He wouldn't want to be one!"

"Leopardpaw!"

She turned to see her brother running up to her. "We're hunting together today! Alright!"

"Are you sure you can handle them?" Hawkfrost asked Sandbreath, Spottedpaw's mentor, and Leopardpaw's and Spottedpaw's father. "They seem to be the troublesome type of kits."

"Oh, I can handle them alright," Sandbreath replied, "they love to hunt together. In fact, they seem to do better with each other than any other cat!"

"Okay…just checking."

"Let's go!"

Leopardpaw ran after her brother as they ran out of RiverClan's camp.

"Whoa! Hey! I didn't say we could go yet!" Sandbreath shouted as he ran after his kits.

Hawkfrost shook his head sadly: Sandbreath was going to have some trouble keeping his kits out of trouble.

He smelled a familiar scent approaching him. _Mothwing_.

He turned to see his sister walking up to him. She rubbed her head against his cheek as a greeting: he purred in response.

"Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, sure," Hawkfrost replied. "What are we looking for?"

"I'm almost out of watermint," Mothwing meowed, "and I'm completely out of yarrow. And if we find some cobwebs, that's good too."

"Where's watermint located at?"

"It's near the island, in the swamp: it's a leafy green plant found in streams or damp earth, I chew it into a pulp and then fed it to a cat suffering bellyache."

"Okay. And yarrow?"

"A flowering plant whose leaves can be made into poultice and apply to wounds or scratches to expel poison."

"I meant where it's found."

"Oh… somewhere at the swamp, I think…"

"…Okay…I'll see what I can do for yarrow."

"And you find cobwebs—"

"—where a spider lives, I know!"

Mothwing walked away, leading. Hawkfrost noticed her tail lashing back and forth madly; she probably didn't like the tone he had used.

He ran up to her: she glanced at him and looked away, she didn't like him now.

_Why's she so angry all of a sudden? Was it something I said? Does she want me to come with her now? Or does she think I should be with Leopardpaw?_ Hawkfrost thought, confused by his sister's sudden mood-swing: she had been happy to see him, and after one sentence she was mad.

He looked around hopefully, perhaps if he found some yarrow or cobwebs she would change her mind about being angry. He sniffed deeply, a familiar scent he knew from her medicine storage came to him. _Yarrow!_

He followed the smell and found the plant, he pulled hard and it broke from the ground. He looked back at Mothwing: she hadn't even noticed he had gone, or perhaps she saw him and was annoying his absence.

Hawkfrost walked over to her and showed her what he had found: she gave it a sniff and narrowed her eyes at him; she hadn't said when to find what she needed.

"I see you found yarrow," she meowed.

Hawkfrost narrowed his eyes at his sister; he didn't like the tone of voice she had spoken with.

"At last I _found _it," he grumbled angrily, the yarrow made him sound funny since it was in his mouth.

"Congratulations," Mothwing mumbled.

Hawkfrost stared at her blankly. He couldn't believe that now she was being sarcastic with him!

"So?"

"You found it, that's all."

Mothwing gave out a sudden squeal: she ran and Hawkfrost heard a splash, they made it at the swamp.

"I found some watermint!"

A couple of moments passed and Mothwing ran up to Hawk-frost, dripping wet, her eyes shining and was purring happily.

"Great for you," he murmured sarcastically, now _he _was the one being sarcastic: she had done it to him, he did it back right at her.

"Fine."

They began walking back: Mothwing just looking ahead, Hawkfrost glancing around, neither wanted to talk to each other now.

"Why are you angry with me?"

"I'm not angry with you, Hawkfrost."

"Then why are you acting this way?"

"…Because I think it's time you've settled down."

"Excuse me?"

Mothwing stopped and out the watermint on the ground, then looked into Hawkfrost's eyes: he copied her and waited for her to speak.

"It's time you've found a mate," she meowed.

"What?"

"Everyone is talking about you, Hawkfrost, that you spend too much of your time being the best warrior you can be, you never slow down. They think, and I agree, that you should find a mate and have a family," Mothwing explained.

"But who would I choose? Mistyfoot doesn't seem to want me."

"That's true," agreed Mothwing, "but what about Leopardpaw?"

"What? My own apprentice? Are you subjecting I choose _Leopardpaw _as my mate?" Hawkfrost stepped back from his sister as if she was diseased: the thought of Leopardpaw as his mate was just simply terrifying.

"No! No!" Mothwing murmured quickly. "I'm not saying that. It's just I think she has a crush on you, or something."

"Mothwing…"

Hawkfrost took a deep breath: he wasn't sure how to say what he wanted to say, he wasn't sure how Mothwing would react.

"…Mothwing, I'm not ready to have a mate. I can't."

"What? What do you mean you're not ready? That's nonsense!"

Hawkfrost looked at Mothwing, but didn't speak: he couldn't say why he didn't want to have a family; he knew Tigerstar, his father, would be angry with him. He had been meeting with him and his half-brother Brambleclaw for almost three moons, and Tigerstar had a great vision of the future: if Hawkfrost had a family, it would distract him from his duty to his father. Plus, he didn't think any she-cat would _want _to have him as her mate: he was half-Clan and was the son of Tigerstar, and everyone hated his father.

He couldn't think of any she-cat but Brightpaw, WindClan's Brightbreath's daughter, who was the deputy: her entire family was half-Clan, Leopardpaw and Spottedpaw were her cousins. She had kin in ShadowClan, too.

But he didn't love her at all, he certainly didn't feel that way, he just liked her as a cat, even if she had powers.

He realized that Mothwing was speaking: "Are you going to answer me?"

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said: why _can't _you have a mate?"

"I'm so sorry, Mothwing, I really am, but I can't answer that."

"Fine, keep your secrets."

Mothwing picked up the watermint, and looked at him sadly. "You know, Hawkfrost, sometimes I think you don't tell me _every-thing _that happens in your life. You could tell me, if you wanted to, if anything was bothering you, I'm here." With that, she walked a-way.

Hawkfrost watched her. _Am I doing the right thing, going to Tigerstar in my sleep? But I'm _really _not ready to settle down and found a mate: I can't think of anyone who'd be willing enough to accept me…except Brightpaw. Oh, StarClan, tell me, what am I doing wrong?_


	5. Chapter 3

C H A P T E R 3

_Brightheart jumped off the fallen-tree _as she headed to the Gathering. When she was an apprentice, her mother ordered her to stay near Crowfeather. She wasn't allowed to talk to any apprentices or warriors from other Clans, partly because she was an only kit and her mother for some reason feared for her safety. But now that she was a warrior, Brightbreath gave her permission to talk to other cats.

She saw the Clan leaders on the Great Oak: Onestar, with a spotted golden she-cat sitting next to him on their branch; it must be Leopardstar of RiverClan, and another branch sat a white time with black paws, Blackstar, leader of ShadowClan, and a tom with a fire-blazed pelt, definitely Firestar of ThunderClan.

The moon shined brightly in the night sky, it was full, as it was the Gathering, when the Clans met every full moon for peace.

From her earlier visits, Brightheart knew not to give any weakness information: even though it was a Gathering, cats had to be cautious not to give anything away that made their Clan sound weak, which would result with a surprise attack.

From the corner of her eye Brightheart saw Crowfeather walk toward the medicine cats: a light-brown she-cat beamed at the sight of him. She got up and touched noses with him; Crowfeather's tail was swaying slowly back and forth.

_That must be Leafpool, ThunderClan's medicine cat: they must have met during the Great Journey, when the Clans were journeying here_, Brightheart thought.

"Hello."

She turned to see a tom looking at her: he smelled of fish. _RiverClan_, she thought.

She knew this tom's name; he sometimes spoke to Crowfeather when she was an apprentice. She knew he was from RiverClan: he smelled like one of them. Then she remembered that a cat with his description lived in RiverClan and was the brother of Riv-erClan's medicine cat, Mothwing. And that he was also the half-brother to Brambleclaw of ThunderClan and Tawnypelt of ShadowClan. _Ah! Hawkfrost!_

"Hi, Hawkfrost," she meowed.

Hawkfrost turned his head to one side: he was probably confused why she was alone and not with Crowfeather, like she normally was. "Where's Crowfeather? Aren't you normally with him?"

Brightheart turned to where Crowfeather was: he was apparently still talking to Leafpool. "He's over there."

"I meant why you're not with him."

"I'm a warrior now," Brightheart replied importantly, she was, after all, talking to an enemy warrior. "So I don't supervision by my mentor or mother. Brightbreath thinks I'm old enough to handle it."

"Oh?" Hawkfrost's eyes were gleaming amusingly; he was impressed with how well she was doing. "And what's your warrior name?"

"I'm not telling you."

"Leaving it to Onestar, huh?"

"Hi Brightpaw!"

Brightheart looked at the smaller cat next to Hawkfrost, she must be his apprentice. _I know her name! Leopardpaw!_

"Leopardpaw!" she meowed. "It's been so long!"

"How are things in WindClan?" asked Leopardpaw. "And did I hear right, you're a _warrior _now?"

"Things are fine in WindClan, and yes, I'm a warrior," Brightheart answered.

"Congratulations!" Leopardpaw meowed. "I can't wait to hear your warrior name!"

Brightheart saw her mother over at the ShadowClan cats; she was looking for her father, apparently. She saw him next to Tawnypelt, a ShadowClan warrior, and Brambleclaw's sister. She watched as her mother said hello to him: he got up nuzzled his chin on her cheek, he was so happy to see her…

"That's your father, isn't it? Over there?" she heard Hawkfrost murmur; he had been watching her look at her parents as they had greeted each other.

"Yes."

"There's Tawnypelt…"

Brightheart looked at Hawkfrost; he was looking at his half-kin with a longing look on his face. She suddenly felt sad for him: he was one of Tigerstar's sons, and half of his kin were in other Clans… But that was when she realized that they had something in common; most of _her _family was in _three _Clans, a much worse fate then his.

"It's sad, to have kin in other Clans, huh?" she commented to him.

Hawkfrost looked at her as if he realized that they had something in common: he hadn't thought of any other cat like him, and here she was right next to him.

"Most of the time," he muttered, looking at his half-brother Brambleclaw, "but not really…at least I don't have three families…"

"Hey!" Brightheart meowed. "I'm actually _glad _I have three families: it means I have more cats that love and care about me!"

And then she realized he was just playing with her: his eyes had amusement in them, he had been joking around.

"Sorry," she murmured, looking at the ground, feeling ashamed. "I can get protective for my family sometimes…"

"It's okay, accidents happen, right?"

Brightheart turned to Leopardpaw: she was still with them; she had been observing the two together.

"May the Gathering begin!"

She looked up; the leaders were ready to start now. She sat where she was; there was no time to move now. She felt someone looking at her; she turned to see Hawkfrost watching her.

_Was he…was he just _checking me out?she thought.

"I would like to begin," Firestar meowed; he sat tall to begin his announcements of what have been happening in ThunderClan.

"First off: ThunderClan thanks WindClan for saving them against the badgers, and if it hadn't been for them more lives would be lost that night… Cinderpelt, our medicine cat, had died that night…may she rest in peace in StarClan."

Gasps escaped some cats in the clearing; some of them had known Cinderpelt back then when the cats had lived in the Forest. And then there was grief murmuring from cats all around: Cinderpelt would be greatly missed, for every cat respected and admired her. Brightheart had never met Cinderpelt, since she was a ThunderClan medicine cat, but she had heard the stories of her from back when Tigerstar had lived and when Firestar was an apprentice, when they lived in the Forest. It was Tigerstar who had gotten her leg wounded, as she was run over by a mon-ster on a Thunderpath and that was way she had always walked funny.

"That's so sad," Brightheart heard Leopardpaw murmur in her ear.

"Shhhh…" Hawkfrost murmured: no cats could talk during the Gathering; it was mean to speak when the leaders were, as the Gatherings were important.

"Leopardstar," Firestar flicked his tail at the RiverClan leader: she sat up straight, trying to look important.

"Our medicine cat, Mothwing, has taken Willowpaw as an apprentice," she began.

The Clans bellowed, "Willowpaw! Willowpaw!"

Brightheart joined in: she always did when a new apprentice was announced, it was a kind gesture and she was happy for the new apprentices.

"That's Mothwing," Hawkfrost poked Brightheart in her side and pointed toward his sister: she was sitting near a tree root with a gray she-cat with green eyes next to her. "And the smaller cat is Willowpaw."

Leopardstar didn't speak; she was apparently done with her part. She motioned to Blackstar; he stood up and faced the groups of cats below him.

"The weather, since its greenleaf," he began, "has gotten warmer. Twolegs come and play in our woods; they come on their water-monsters on the lake, near our forest. They disturb the prey, and that isn't good for us, we need prey to live. The monsters use the small Thunderpath and leave their disgusting reek in the air, the smell is disturbing…"

Blackstar trailed off: he was done, he had a short report.

That left out Onestar; he was the only one left. It was covenant that he was left last; he had to announce Brightheart's warrior status.

_Had they planned leaving Onestar last? _Brightheart thought. _Or was just a coincidence? _

"The prey is running high in WindClan," he mewed, "and we have a new warrior: Brightheart."

Brightheart had expected that: cats all around her turned to look at her, they were trying to get a glance at the new warrior. She sat up straight; she wanted to look like she wasn't afraid of the stares. There was murmuring all around her: no cat had thought they'd see the day she would become a warrior, as she had the biggest half-Clan family ever in the Clan history.

"Brightheart! Brightheart!"

Brightheart was startled to hear her other kin shout her name, no one else had done it: why would they shout a half-Clan cat's warrior name? She saw her father looking at her: his eyes were gleaming, he was so proud of her for becoming a warrior at last.

Onestar told the tale of her catching the rabbit that day: some cats were in awe of it, but most of them muttered to their neighbor that it wasn't true.

_No one really believes I have powers anyway_, Brightheart thought.

"Did you really catch a rabbit like that?" Leopardpaw asked. Brightheart turned to see that Leopardpaw's eyes were gleaming; she admired her cousin's skill and determination.

"Yeah, I did," Brightheart mewed. Leopardpaw nodded: she accepted the answer, but Brightheart knew that she really didn't believe it…no cat did except Brightheart.

The Gathering was over; cats were getting up and saying good-bye to each other before joining their Clans. Brightheart saw her mother walk up to say good-bye to Scartalon, he murmured in her ear and their tails entwined: Brightheart figured that her mother was always sad to say good-bye to him and not see him for another moon. She watched as she saw Brambleclaw walk to say good-bye to Tawnypelt: and he turned to walk over to Hawkfrost, he was going to say good-bye to him, too.

"See you next Gathering, Hawkfrost," he meowed.

"See you too," Hawkfrost responded, although he sounded cheerful, Brightheart could see sadness in his eyes; he must really miss his kin.

"Brightheart," Brambleclaw turned to Brightheart, "I guess I'll see you too?"

"Yeah," Brightheart mewed. She felt nervous to be talking to ThunderClan's new deputy: he had only been one for a half-moon, but she still felt uneasy.

"See ya. Nice seeing you, Leopardpaw."

Brambleclaw ran to catch up to his Clanmates; most of ThunderClan was off the island now.

Leopardpaw stood up and stretched: Brightheart could just imagine the muscles cracking from sitting down for so long. "I'm going to catch up with Spottedpaw and Willowpaw," Leopardpaw meowed, "I'll see you at the next Gathering, Brightheart."

Leopardpaw rubbed her muzzle against Brightheart's cheek; she stood still for a couple of seconds, and then ran to see where her brother was.

Brightheart realized that only she and Hawkfrost remained: all the cats were with their Clans now; if she wanted to catch up with her mother she would have to use her super-speed.

Suddenly she noticed that Hawkfrost had his tail entwined with hers: he must have done it when she was distracted by the Gathering.

_Why did he do that?_ Brightheart wondered. _Does he like me or something? Or had he been caught up in the moment?_

"Um…"

"Oh!" Hawkfrost shook his head as if waking up from a dream; he must have just noticed what she had. "Sorry…when your name was announced, I got, you know…all emotional."

"That's okay."

Both cats stood up. They looked at the ground, embarrassed: Hawkfrost's face was a deep red and Brightheart had a little pink in her cheeks.

"So…uh…I'll see you at the next Gathering?" Hawkfrost muttered: he was dismissing what he had done; he probally hadn't meant to make it seem he liked her or something.

"Yeah, I guess I will," Brightheart murmured.

Both looked at each other: sensation to say something was there, but no one spoke.

Hawkfrost was beginning to shake: Brightheart was worried he would attack her or something.

"So…good-bye."

Hawkfrost flicked her ear with his tail as he ran away; it was a gesture of kindness. Brightheart watched him: she couldn't take her eyes off him for some reason; it was like her eyes weren't attached to her brain. There was something about him that made Brightheart's heart skip a beat, something that made him more than a friend… more than an enemy…

_No_, Brightheart thought. _I can't fall in love with Hawkfrost, we're from different Clans: we can't be together. If I let myself fall for him, I'll end up having kits, and my family has had enough half-Clan cats, thank you very much…it'll add more stress…_

But something in her heart told Brightheart that this feeling was meant to be, that Brightheart and Hawkfrost were meant to be together, even if from different Clans.

_StarClan told me I was part of a prophecy, is this part of it? Was I meant to be in love with Hawkfrost? Are we meant to be together? _Brightheart wondered.

She waited for StarClan to answer, but none came.

_I guess I'll have to wait and see…_


	6. Chapter 4

**(This chapter hints some confused feelings for Brightheart. And some humor when he sees Tigerstar! Hope you enjoy it-IHF)**

C H A P T E R 4

_Hawkfrost ran into the camp: some _cats turned to see him; apparently they had noticed his absence, him being with Brightheart for so long. He hadn't meant to have his tail entwined with hers, it had only happened by accident… But why did Hawkfrost realize he _didn't _do it by accident, he had done it himself? _Him? _Hawkfrost was so confused; he had never felt this way before about any cat…

_Am I…am I in _love with Brightheart? he thought. He had never fallen in love before, but he knew what it felt like: and he was definitely in love, he could felt inside his heart.

But that wasn't the only thing that bothered him: when he and Brightheart had been left alone from the Gathering, his father, Tigerstar, had appeared in the shadows. He had been looking at him angrily; he didn't like it that his other son was alone with the half-Clan she-cat. And that wasn't the only _other _thing that had spooked him: Hawkfrost had a feeling that Tigerstar knew he had entwined his tail with hers. But instinct to Hawkfrost that Tigerstar didn't know he was in love with her: Tigerstar wouldn't ever dream of it.

"Hawkfrost? Is that you?"

Hawkfrost jumped at his sister's voice: he was so into his thoughts he hadn't noticed her running up to him. She must have been extremely worried, for her eyes were shining and con-cerned.

_But I wasn't gone for that long_, he thought, _or _was _I?_

"What took you so long?" Mothwing asked. "Everyone was so worried!"

"I ended up alone with Brightheart, we talked for a little bit," Hawkfrost muttered softly, looking at the ground: he didn't want to admit his mistake of the tails-thing.

"Oh." Mothwing sniffed him and began checking him over, she was apparently seeing if Brightheart's smell was on Hawkfrost still. She stopped at his tail: Hawkfrost caught her eye; he could sense what she was thinking.

"Well, her scents gone now," she reported. And then she realized just how tired her brother was: he was panting softly, Hawkfrost had to run all the way. "You look exhausted: you go and get some rest," she murmured.

"Thanks."

Hawkfrost walked into the warriors den: every cat was there, he could see their stomachs rising and falling as they slept. He found an empty spot and collapsed: he could expect someone to wake and find him there. But no cat stirred, as they were too in their sleep to notice him.

He closed his eyes…

Hawkfrost ran under the dark trees, along the trail that lead to the clearing. He knew where he was: he had been here many times, to visit his father and half-brother Brambleclaw, after meeting them for a couple of moons. But Hawkfrost knew it wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting, like it always was: he knew Tigerstar had something to say about his behavior.

He slowed to a walk now: he could see the clearing, and Tigerstar, sitting on a rock.

Right when he entered the clearing Hawkfrost knew he was in _big _trouble: Tigerstar was looking at him with an evil look and he was shaking with rage.

"Why Hawkfrost? Why?" Tigerstar asked. "Out of all my sons, _you _have to go and do something stupid!"

"I—I—I'm sorry!" Hawkfrost cried, sinking himself to the ground, like a kit cowering in terror. He knew that Tigerstar had dismissed Brambleclaw this time because of Hawkfrost; Hawkfrost didn't see his half-brother anywhere.

Tigerstar flicked the apology away as if it were a fly with his tail. "'Sorry' doesn't help with our plan, does it?"

"N—no."

Tigerstar jumped off the rock: Hawkfrost watched him as he approached his son; Tigerstar's tail was twitching back and forth angrily.

"Get up," Tigerstar hissed in Hawkfrost's ear, "you're not a kit anymore: you're a full grown warrior, so show some respect."

Hawkfrost obeyed: he was still twitching in fear, and he was worried that Tigerstar would hurt him or do something.

But instead Tigerstar nodded at him: he liked it that his son was following orders, he liked it that Hawkfrost was putting a stupid mistake behind him.

"That's better."

"I didn't mean to do that, I just did—"

"—Quiet!" Tigerstar hissed, his ears pressed against his head, and his tail going back and forth. "I'm thinking…"

Hawkfrost watched as Tigerstar began walking around the rock: he was clearing thinking of a different plan, he heard him murmuring something:

"If you can get Brightheart to fall in love with you, it could help with the plan…she has the biggest half-Clan family…Brightbreath loves her daughter so much…"

"You want me to get her to fall for me?" Hawkfrost mewed.

"Yes…that could work…"

Tigerstar hadn't heard Hawkfrost; he was still muttering ideas aloud.

"Aren't you going to introduce us, Tigerstar?"

Tigerstar stopped dead; Hawkfrost became rigid by the new voice. He knew that voice, he could recognize it anywhere… Tigerstar started growling at the newcomer: he didn't like being interrupted.

_It's my _mother! Hawkfrost thought. _But what is she doing here? Is she… is she _dead?

"Hawkfrost…"

Tigerstar sighed deeply. He wasn't happy for what he was about to do: he probally hadn't wanted Hawkfrost to find out.

"I think it's time for an introduction."

"But he already knows me!"

"Shut up!" Tigerstar whirled around and faced the source of the voice: Hawkfrost walked next to him gasped: it _was _his mother; even if she was in the shadows he recognized her scent.

"Sa…Sasha?"

"Yes, Hawkfrost, it's me."

Sasha walked out of the shadows: her tawny pelt and her dark brown feet, ears, and tail turning dark from the light, even if there was no moon. Her blue eyes shined as she looked at her son: she hadn't seen him in moons ever since she had offered for him and Mothwing to join her when she found out the Clans were leaving the Forest.

"But—how?"

"I was run over by a car," Sasha answered.

Hawkfrost looked at her confused: since Sasha had been a kittypet, she sometimes forgot that Clan cats didn't know that certain things were.

"I mean a monster."

"Oh no!" Hawkfrost responded. "But then, why are you here?"

Sasha spat, her fur raised from her spine, and her claws came out as she hissed, "Because Tigerstar brought my sprit here."

Hawkfrost realized that Tigerstar had powers just like Brightheart, but he used them for evil purposes instead. He wondered what Brightheart would think if she knew this.

"And he gave me powers too," Sasha added.

"What about me?" a new voice spoke: it made Hawkfrost shiver, as it sounded like the bare-leaf and ice.

"Oh yeah," Tigerstar meowed amusingly, "I _almost _forgot you."

Tigerstar turned to Hawkfrost. "Hawkfrost, I'd like you to met Scourge."

"Scou—Scourge!" Hawkfrost whimpered. He didn't mean to sound so scared: he had heard the tales of Tigerstar's past, and how Scourge had been the one to kill him with a single blow, taking all his nine lives away.

"Yep."

Tigerstar gestured the shadows. "Prepare yourself…" Hawk-frost heard Tigerstar mutter.

Scourge walked out: he was a small cat, apprentice size, with ice-blue eyes. His pelt was complete black, only the bottom part of his right paw was white. But what surprised Hawkfrost was that he wasn't wearing the collar that was motioned in the stories he heard: the collar had been purple with teeth of cats and dogs.

Scourge noticed Hawkfrost's glare. "Oh, yeah," he murmured, "I don't wear that collar anymore."

Scourge narrowed his eyes at Tigerstar: Tigerstar grinned at him; he was trying to look innocent.

"And I heard that."

"Sorry," Tigerstar mewed, "I didn't mean to humor your puny size. Oh, wait; did I just insult your mother?"

Scourge's eyes winded as the sarcastic comment sunk in: he couldn't believe that Tigerstar could go that low; he must have thought that Tigerstar would apologize for what he had done when he was an apprentice.

"Oh you did not just say that!" Scourge snarled. Hawkfrost saw his fur rose up and his claws came out: Scourge was clearly outraged.

"Oh yes I _did! _You better believe it!"

Scourge began growling like a dog: Tigerstar giggled evilly, he enjoyed toying with the smaller cat.

"Ohhh, you wanna play?" Tigerstar began doing play-bows. "You wanna rumble?"

"Don't push it…" Scourge hissed. Hawkfrost could see that Scourge was taking a missive effort to control his temper: his entire body was shaking, and his claws were coming in and out of his paws.

"But you're so small!" Tigerstar swept on, he clearly wasn't going to stop any day. "It's a wonder how you lost against Firestar! Oh wait, I didn't mean it!"

Scourge stood up tall, his eyes brightened; he thought Tigerstar was going to apologize.

"Oh wait, I _DID _mean it!" Tigerstar gloated and began to laugh like a kit: the laughing than went insanely-like way, and it hurt Hawkfrost's ears. From the loudness of Tigerstar's laughter Hawkfrost assumed that the entire Dark Forest could hear him.

Hawkfrost and Sasha backed away slowly: Hawkfrost could sense a fight would break out, and Sasha's eyes were huge with terror as she heard the two bicker. She backed away and went behind her son; she thought he could protect her if a fight happened.

"You're a show-off, ya know that!" Scourge snarled.

"I know, but at least I don't cry for my mother!"

Tigerstar had hit a nerve hard. Scourge's fur rose up again from his spine, all his claws came out, and it looked like he was going to explode with rage.

Scourge screamed, "THAT'S IT!"

He jumped at Tigerstar: Tigerstar served to the side, hissing, "Oh, so close!"

"SHUT UP!"

Scourge lashed out his front claws at Tigerstar: Hawkfrost shivered from the look of them, Scourge's claws shined in the dark. Tigerstar ducked from the talons, Scourge cursed under his breath by the miss: Hawkfrost could see that his father still had some fight in him.

Unexpectedly Tigerstar tried a move Hawkfrost had never seen before: he put his front paws in a hand-stand and swept his back paws right under Scourge. Scourge fell, his paws failing wildly: he had never expected Tigerstar to try something so new.

But Scourge wasn't done just yet: he jumped up and ducked under Tigerstar, he pushed his back paws at him, and Tigerstar fell over. Scourge then put his weight on Tigerstar; Tigerstar began to struggle from it. Scourge pinned him down.

"Who's the small guy now?" Scourge hissed.

Hawkfrost could see why Scourge's small size was an advantage: he was small and lighter than Tigerstar, and that gave him more time to react. _Scourge must have powers too_, he thought.

Tigerstar spun around so swiftly Hawkfrost almost missed it: it was so quick, and then he gave out a mighty push at Scourge. The smaller cat gave out a scream of terror as he was slammed against a tree on another side of the clearing: he slide against the bark of the tree to the ground with a THUD.

He was knocked out by the force of Tigerstar's kick.

"YOU ARE!" Tigerstar screeched. It echoed from all around by the trees.

But Hawkfrost could see that Scourge was still awake: his eyes were slightly open, and Hawkfrost than knew that Scourge was pretending to be defeated.

Tigerstar ran up to Scourge; Scourge jumped up, claws extended. If someone didn't stop them they'd kill each other…_again_.

Hawkfrost saw a blur of brown run pass him: it was running toward the two toms. _Sasha!_

Sasha ran in between Tigerstar and Scourge just as he reached the black cat: she hit Tigerstar hard, claws extended, and he backed away. She then turned to Scourge and smacked him across the face, with no claws, though, as so not to hurt him, and Scourge whimpered.

"That's enough!" she snarled.

Tigerstar opened his mouth, but noticed the look on Sasha's face: it had pure rage, her eyes gleaming darkly, and it spoke unsaid words. He clamped his mouth shut; there was no way he was going to argue with an angry she-cat.

"I think it's time you continue your meeting with your son!" Sasha hissed.

She walked over to Scourge and helped him head over to a tree that had its bottom open, like a den. Hawkfrost saw that Scourge was limping: Tigerstar had really hurt him badly, and he could see that Scourge was also slightly bleeding.

Tigerstar walked over to Hawkfrost, he could see that his father was also bleeding.

"Are they… you know…"

"No," Tigerstar murmured. "Sasha fell in love with me and she'll always love me: she just cares for Scourge because he's so small and can get easily hurt…"

Tigerstar said that casually, but Hawkfrost could see that anger filled his eyes. He was clearly jealous of how Sasha's attention was on Scourge and not on her mate.

"Anyway," Tigerstar meowed, "the plan: get Brightheart to fall in love with you. But if she already has, then the thing to do is get her to trust you more…and when the time comes, she will _have _to follow your orders along with the plan."

"Okay."

Hawkfrost walked away. His fur prickled with uneasiness, he wasn't sure if he wanted to go along with the plan to rule the Clans anymore, it didn't feel right. And he didn't want to _force _Brightheart to do anything, he just couldn't do it. But what if he had to hurt her so she obeyed? Could he do it? Or would he surrender because he loved her too much?

_I know I love her_, Hawkfrost thought. _And maybe we were meant to be together, we have so much in common. Tigerstar said to gain her trust… How am I supposed to do that? I could meet her secretly… But is that the thing Tigerstar has in mind? What would he think? I'm not sure what to do anymore… I guess I should just follow my heart…_


	7. Chapter 5

C H A P T E R 5

_Brightheart walked along her mother_ and her apprentice Mousepaw, she had been chosen to go on the sun-high patrol. Brightheart sniffed the air; she could scent the RiverClan boarder and the horses from Horseplace. She knew that they had past Horseplace; she could hear the distanced clomping of the horse hooves.

"Sure is hot today," commented Mousepaw, looking at the sun. Brightheart noticed that her fur was sweating; the heat was too much for the smaller she-cat.

"Don't worry: soon the leaf-fall will come. The sun will get weaker as the seasons go by," Brightbreath reassured her apprentice, flicking her tail against Mousepaw's ear.

"I'm just worried the lake will dry up…" Mousepaw murmured.

Dread hit Brightheart as sharp as a claw: she had never thought of the idea of the lake drying up completely, it was just too terrible to imagine.

"That'll never happen!" Brightheart mewed. She was saying it to Mousepaw, but Brightheart knew that she was also trying to reassure herself.

"It might," Brightbreath muttered. She looked at her daughter: Brightheart had stopped walking altogether. She decided not to say anything like that anymore; she was making Brightheart very scared.

A new scent hit Brightheart's nose: it smelled of fish and water. Brightheart's eyes widened, she knew what cats were coming.

_Hawkfrost! _she thought.

Brightheart breathed the scent of Hawkfrost in deeply; she wanted to treasure his scent always. _He's so muscular. And cute. And those eyes are hepatizing. I wonder if he has any—_

Brightheart stopped herself as the thought crossed her mind: she didn't want to know if Hawkfrost had a mate, and she'd be heart-broken if he did.

_Am I…am I in love with Hawkfrost?_ Brightheart wondered. _Well, even if it was by accident, I _did _like it when his tail was entwined with mine: it was some sort of sign that told me if he liked me or not. But…if I let myself fall for him, I might end up having kits, it's happened before…And my family doesn't need any more half-Clan cats…_

Brightheart knew she was rethinking what she had thought that Gathering night: she was just trying to convince herself _not _to fall in love with Hawkfrost. But she knew it couldn't be rethought: it was already done, she was in love with him, and that was that.

"It's the RiverClan sun-high patrol," Mousepaw meowed. "I can see them."

The cats slowed to a stop as they approached the other patrol: it was Mistyfoot, Hawkfrost, and Leopardpaw.

Leopardpaw blinked at the sight of her cousin: it had only been three days since they had seen each other; it was rare when patrols ended up meeting. Hawkfrost was looking at his paws; Brightheart thought he was blushing from embarrassment. Brightbreath was looking at the RiverClan deputy; Mistyfoot was looking at Mousepaw, amused to see that WindClan's deputy had an apprentice.

"Well," Mistyfoot meowed, "this is rather odd. It's very rare when a patrol meets another."

"You're Mousepaw, right?" Leopardpaw murmured to the other apprentice, Mousepaw was shaking; she didn't like being the center of attention.

"Yeah…" Mousepaw looked Leopardpaw over. "And you're Leopardpaw."

"That's right."

"Weird…I didn't see you at the Gathering; I was there, so I would've seen you."

"Oh, I was there," Leopardpaw replied, "I was sitting with Hawkfrost and Brightheart."

Brightheart looked at the ground sheepishly, she was worried that Leopardpaw would mention Hawkfrost's mistake. She had been right there, after all.

"That's way I didn't see you!" Mousepaw explained. "I was with my Clanmates!"

"Brightheart…"

Brightheart looked at her mother; she could sense that Brightbreath wanted an explanation.

"Brightheart, you were with _RiverClan _cats at the Gathering?" Brightbreath looked at her, eyes curious.

"Well," Brightheart explained, "I had been talking to them when the Gathering started, so I didn't have any other place to sit."

"…That makes sense," Brightbreath mewed. "But next time, talk, and then come to us when you notice that leaders getting ready."

"Okay…"

Brightheart's pelt burned in embarrassment: she was being lectured in front of enemy warriors!

"Go easy on her, okay? She didn't know: it was her first time as a warrior. Of course she wanted to proclaim it to other cats."

Brightheart looked at Hawkfrost; it was the first time in the conversation that he spoken. Why was he coming to her defense?

"Although that may be true," Brightbreath meowed, "that doesn't mean she doesn't know how to behave at a Gathering."

"We'd best get going," Mistyfoot mewed. She seemed to be itching to get going. "Leopardstar expects us back."

"We need to patrol the ThunderClan boarder anyway," Brightbreath muttered. "But it was nice seeing you."

"You too!"

"Oh, and I'm _Hawkfrost's _apprentice!" Leopardpaw told Mousepaw.

Mistyfoot and Leopardpaw left, Hawkfrost began following them. Brightbreath and Mousepaw walked away. Brightheart began following them when she saw the Hawkfrost had stayed behind.

She walked to him.

"Hi," she murmured.

"Hey," he meowed.

"I want to get to know you," Hawkfrost meowed. Brightheart opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off.

"I know what you'll say, yes, we're from different Clans, but I have a strange feeling we need to meet."

Brightheart's fur prickled with uneasiness: she didn't know what the RiverClan warrior meant. Did he feel the way she felt? Did he love her? Did he have the same feeling that they were meant to be together?

She searched his eyes for affection, but only saw casualness; she also saw a flicker of uneasiness. What was making him so uneasy?

"But where would we met?" she asked him.

Hawkfrost's eyes moved toward Horseplace. "Perhaps that tree near Horseplace?"

She turned to see a big oak tree right at Horseplace, and it seemed like an ideal place to meet: not too far in WindClan, and he only had to run to get there. Then she saw that the there was a small hole in the bottom of the tree: it looked like a soft, warm den.

"No, no, too much in WindClan…" she heard Hawkfrost murmur: he seemed to be having second thoughts about the tree.

"It's perfect," Brightheart stated. She turned and saw that Hawkfrost was confused, he didn't understand. "I have powers that can't be matched by any other cat: no one can stop them, they would need powers to do so."

Hawkfrost's eyes glistened, as if he knew something she didn't.

"Once you're out of camp, you'll become invisible; no one could see or hear you. You could run all the way to the oak, where I'd be waiting…or if something came up, you would have to wait."

Hawkfrost's eyes narrowed. His paws itching on and off the ground. He seemed to be giving the idea some hard thinking.

"Alright," he agreed, "if you say you can do that, I believe you. We'll meet there, at the oak tree, at moonhigh?"

"Err—right!" Brightheart mewed surprisingly. Not many cats believed her story of having incredible powers, and Hawkfrost was the first one to believe her ever.

"Hawkfrost! Are you going to stand there gossiping all day? Hurry up!" Brightheart heard Mistyfoot call angrily to the tom.

"I've gotta go."

Hawkfrost ran, and turned to call, "Moonhigh, right?"

"Right!"

"Later!"

"Goodbye!"

Brightheart ran and followed her mother's scent; she knew her mother would be waiting for her since of the time she had taken. She found them at the ThunderClan border: Mousepaw looking across the river, longing to jump over it, and Brightbreath looking at her angrily, her tail lashing and eyes narrowed.

_She's probally wondering what took me_, Brightheart thought.

"What took you so _long!_" Brightbreath lectured right as she stopped in front of her. "I was afraid they came back and ambushed you!"

"No," Brightheart explained calmly. She knew that Mistyfoot wouldn't do that after the nice chat they had had. "I was talking to Hawkfrost about my rabbit adventure thing."

Brightbreath didn't look convinced at all: she narrowed her eyes at Brightheart, as if she knew that Brightheart wasn't telling the truth.

"C'mon, let's check for ThunderClan cats, they might be here somewhere."

Brightbreath turned to her apprentice, Mousepaw was still facing the river, breathing in the smells and scents in deeply.

"Mousepaw, let's see what you know…have any cats been here lately?"

"Yes," Mousepaw answered. "ThunderClan's sun-high border patrol just passed here a couple of minutes ago; I can smell that their scent is fresh."

"Who was on it?"

"Hmmm…" Mousepaw took a deep breath; she was drawing in the cats' smells to identify.

"Brambleclaw, Ashfur, Birchpaw, Squirrelflight, and Spiderleg: four warriors and one apprentice."

"Good job!" Brightbreath sounded surprised; she hadn't expected Mousepaw to know all those names yet.

"Well, thanks," Mousepaw replied, blushing: she was embarrassed to get praised. "I took my time remembering the names and scents of cats at the Gathering incase, you know, there's a battle…"

"You did a great job," Brightbreath meowed, and turned to Brightheart. "I'd say this was a good patrol: no invaders and both RiverClan and ThunderClan don't seem to be causing trouble right now...which is weird, considering that ThunderClan is still wounded by the recent badger attack. I say we head home and tell Onestar—"

A yowl cut Brightbreath of: it was a yowl of warning, and it sounded like a battle cry.

_Oh no!_ Brightheart thought. _That's Crowfeather's battle cry! I recognize it anywhere! The camp is being attacked!_

"That's Crowfeather!" Mousepaw's eyes were wide; Brightheart figured that she was afraid of what had caused it. "We need to get back to camp!"

The three she-cats ran fast, afraid of what they'd find.

At the top of the hill, they saw—

"Foxes?" Mousepaw sounded confused; she must have expected badgers, like the ones that had attacked ThunderClan.

"What do they want?" Brightbreath hissed.

Brightheart knew the answer; she could also understand other animals' languages. _They're here to kill; they want to use the camp as their new home. Not if _I _can do anything about it!_

"The foxes want the camp as a new home! They're here to kill to get what they want!"

"Oh no!" Mousepaw sounded terrified; this would be her first battle.

_But its mine, too._

"Then charge!" Brightbreath ordered.

"Let's go!"

_I'll get there faster then they will_, Brightheart thought, _because I have my super-speed._

She ran ahead of her mother, going faster and faster, gaining speed, and she knew her super-speed was working: she could barely feel the ground, as if she could fly that second.

_Let's do this!_


	8. Chapter 6

**(Sorry about the last chapter, I just HAD to leave a cliff-hanger! Oh yes, a battle! Will Brightheart survive? *dum, dum, dum...*)**

C H A P T E R 6

_Brightheart charged into the heart of _the battle: cats were fighting everywhere, attacking their intruders, yowls of anger were catering all over the place, and she could smell blood. She spotted Crowfeather and Onestar chasing off a young female fox away from the camp, and she was pouting of terror from them. She saw Flowerpaw, Stonepaw, and Scarpaw defending each other, taking turns fighting against a big old male. Brightheart spotted her mother and Mousepaw charge into the fight: Mousepaw jumped on a small female and yowled out a war cry.

_At least someone is enjoying themselves._

Suddenly she felt pain in her side: it stung terribly, something had attacked her. She turned, snarling at the newcomer, and saw that a medium size male was facing her, fur raised and ready to fight for a new home.

_Bring it on!_ she thought.

It jumped at her: she ducked, tucked-and-rolled, and spun and sank her claws in its side. Immediately it gave out a cry of pain. It looked at her with a menacing stare: it was clearly angry at her. It jumped her side, pushed her down, and pinned her: Brightheart couldn't move: the fox had a strong grip.

"Look's like you need a hand!" she heard someone call out.

Someone grabbed the fox by the neck and pulled it away from her: the fox gave out a startled cry.

Brightheart saw that Leopardheart had saved her. She felt a happy spark fly through her: it made her feel warm, and she was happy that Leopardheart was one of her kin.

"Look's like Flowerpaw and Scarpaw need our help!"

Brightheart looked across the clearing to see that the two apprentices were surrounded: both were paralyzed in fear. Leopardheart was right, if someone didn't help them they'd be lacerated.

"Let's go!"

Both she-cats ran over to help them. At the very sight of them coming over the foxes turned tail, but one young male stayed behind.

"Surround it!" Leopardheart commanded. The apprentices and warriors did so. The male looked around itself, as if realizing what had happened. It growled and walked away angrily: it clearly wasn't going to risk an injury by four cats.

"Help me!"

Flowerpaw and Scarpaw ran toward the scene: Mousepaw was surrounded by some fox cubs…even if they were young; these foxes were as determined as the adults.

Flowerpaw jumped on one fox and bit hard on one of its ear: it gave out a cry of pain. It swung him under itself. He gave it a fierce belly rake: it was startled and ran off. Scarpaw was on top of one of the cubs, distracting it, while Scarpaw clawed away: the fox was walking backward as she attacked. Scarpaw was chasing three females away.

The battle was thinning out: more and more foxes were being chased out of the camp. But it seemed like some recruits were coming, as screams of terror were heard as bigger foxes came, leaner and tougher looking. Brightheart was so caught in it all that she didn't notice one female fox heading toward the nursery…and Whitetail was still inside.

"AHHH!" a terrified shriek was heard by everyone in camp: momentarily fox and cat stopped to listen.

Brightheart ran into the nursery and gasped: the fox was the biggest she had ever seen one, with many scars of previous fights, and it had cornered Whitetail, whose belly was big from her kits.

Brightheart creeped up and bit its tail, it gave out a shriek and spun on her, she ran off. She knew it was following her: Brightheart could feel it breathing on her tail. She led it out of camp, and Brightheart could see foxes in a distance fleeing. She noticed some big boulders near each other, like a maze, and immediately an idea came to her.

_I can confuse it!_ she thought. _I'll run so fast it won't be able to catch up!_

She changed course, the fox followed close by. She tried using her super-speed, but something was wrong—it wasn't working.

_Huh? My super-speed is gone, I can't do it. Without it I'll have to run at top ordinary cat speed. Oh well._

Even if her power wasn't working, Brightheart could still outrun the fox. She ran and maneuvered around the rocks, as if she knew where she was going…but she really didn't: the rocks seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, as if _someone else _had made them.

_But, only I have powers, and who else could have them? StarClan said only _I _had them, they certainly would say if some other cat did, too… But what if they _didn't _know if another cat had them?_

Suddenly the rocks became bigger, like boulders, and seemed to be closing in.

_What's happening?_

Moments passed when Brightheart turned a corner—and there was nowhere to go! She turned around, trying to find an escape route, but the boulders were so huge that there wasn't anywhere to go. She tried using her jumping-power, but _that _wasn't working either.

_Why are my powers disappearing?_

Brightheart didn't know who was doing this, but one thing was certain. Whoever it was doing this wanted her dead: there wasn't any place to go, and the fox was still chasing her.

She turned and gasped: the fox had caught up to her.

It gradually walked up toward her, snarling, and she could see its yellow teeth, just waiting to bite her. Brightheart shrunk low, maybe if she became smaller, the fox wouldn't eat her. But clearly that wasn't going to happen, the fox was still walking toward her.

It lunged for her, she closed her eyes tight, and she waited for the pain.

"_Brightheart!_"

_That voice! It couldn't be!_

"_Hawkfrost?_"

**(Yes, ANOTHER cliff-hanger! I just _love _to keep you guessing, don't I? |D)**


	9. Chapter 7

**(Yes, I am evil for wanting you to guess what happens. Mwa ha ha ha! That was weird. Enjoy this chapter!) **

C H A P T E R 7

_Hawkfrost jumped off the boulder_, in front of Brightheart. He knew who had sent this maze up: it had been Tigerstar. Why? He didn't know: all he knew was that Brightheart was in need of some big help.

The fox snarled at him, annoyed by this newcomer. He spat at it.

"When I yell, 'now,'" he whispered to Brightheart, "I want you to jump and run away."

"I'm not leaving you, Hawkfrost," she responded.

"But you'll get hurt—"

"—I am a warrior," she meowed to him, "we're _both _warriors. I know we can handle this…"

Hawkfrost could hear her unheard finished sentence: _…because we were meant to be together…._

_So she thinks the same thing_, he thought.

Hawkfrost realized what he had just thought: he didn't know if he meant it. He didn't know if he loved Brightheart: he thought of her as a nice she-cat, but he didn't know if he thought of her as a possible _mate_.

She padded next to him, fur brushing his. Her claws were out, her eyes were narrowed: she started growling at the fox like a dog, she wasn't afraid at all.

Hawkfrost couldn't but not be impressed by her determination: she really was something.

Then he saw him up on one of the other boulders—_Tigerstar_. He was sitting down staring at them, but he was really looking at Brightheart.

"She shouldn't have been born," he hissed. "She's a menace to the Clans. It's impossible to know what she'll do next; she could do something against the warrior code."

"Deal with it!" Hawkfrost shot back. How could his _own father _try to kill a _good _warrior? _What did she ever do to him? _Nothing, that's what, for she was a good, smart, incredible cat. So what if her family was the biggest half-Clan one ever? At least she had _family_; at least she had cats that _cared _about her.

"Who are you talking to?"

"No one."

Hawkfrost knew that only he could see Tigerstar, because he knew Brightheart would've known that it was Tigerstar who put up the boulders in the first place if she did.

"When I say, 'now,' we run," he whispered.

"Right…"

"One...two…three… NOW!"

Both ran up both sides of the boulders, the fox was momentarily confused, and then turned and ran after them.

When they were completely out of the rock-maze, they spun around. Right when the fox burst out Hawkfrost ran under its belly and began raking it, and Brightheart jumped up and sliced her claws on its face so it wouldn't know about him.

Someone joined them, for a cat jumped up and hit its side, and it fell. Realizing that some more recruits were coming, it finally ran off.

Brightheart turned to face their helper—Leopardpaw.

Then she realized RiverClan had come to help, for many more foxes were running out of terror at them. She could see RiverClan cats chasing them out, along with some WindClan.

Leopardpaw ran to help them.

Brightheart turned to Hawkfrost.

"How did you know we'd need help?" she asked. "You were heading back, weren't you? To RiverClan's camp?"

"Well, from the corner of my eye I noticed foxes running after toward your camp after you left," Hawkfrost admitted. "So I figured you'd need some support…and boy was I right."

"Thank you…"

Brightheart leaned against him: he was surprised, and he didn't know what to think. She nuzzled her muzzle into his fur: she breathed in his scent; she wanted Hawkfrost to know how much she appreciated the help he got.

Hawkfrost was paralyzed: he wasn't sure if anyone was watching. He didn't want them to think there was something going on between them.

And yet, he enjoyed the way she felt against him: her scent smelled like the great outdoors (probally because she was _WindClan_, after all) and she really was cute: somehow she reminded him of a kit seeing through its eyes for the first time, of other cats seeing its eye color.

He curled his tail around her; she scooted even closer to him. He leaned against her in turn, and he breathed in her scent.

"You're welcome," he whispered in her ear.

He started licking her cheek; she became rigid at the movement. Then she curled her tail around him and started purring quietly: she enjoyed the comfort of him.

Hawkfrost looked into her eyes, and she looked his too: his eyes were blue while hers were brown.

"Brightheart…I…I…"

Brightheart leaned a little closer; she wondered what he was going to say. Was he going to tell her he loved her?

"...Yes?" she prompted.

"I…I…Brightheart, I—"

"Hawkfrost! We're leaving now!"

Both cats turned to see Mistyfoot; she was looking at them suspiciously.

"WindClan doesn't need us anymore, Hawkfrost," she meowed curtly; she seemed to want to leave the open moor as quickly as possible.

"Oh, and Scarpaw was hurt pretty badly: a fox pit her on the leg and literally threw her onto a boulder," Mistyfoot told Brightheart.

"Scarpaw?" Brightheart asked. She knew that if it was the one cat she thought it was then Flowerpaw would be devastated; everyone in WindClan knew he loved her.

"Yeah," Mistyfoot replied. "Barkface is looking after her right now; you can go check on her later." Mistyfoot put her attention back on Hawkfrost; there was still some suspicion in her eyes. "And it's time for us to leave now, Hawkfrost."

"All right…"

Hawkfrost got up and started following the deputy, he looked back at Brightheart as he went. He didn't want to leave her now; he still had to tell her something.

"I'll see you later tonight…" he murmured to her.

Mothwing was waiting for the RiverClan patrol when they came back; she wanted to make sure none of them were badly hurt. She went right to Hawkfrost; he stopped when he saw her coming.

_I expected her to go to me first, ever since she wanted me to find a mate_, he thought. _I'm pretty sure she knows about me and Brightheart, about what I did at the Gathering. She must have known I'd do something at the battle._

"Nothing really bad," she announced after she checked him. "In fact, it's as if you weren't hurt at all…"

She walked away to check the others.

Right when Mistyfoot was done the gray she-cat approached him; she apparently wanted a clarification toward his behavior toward Brightheart.

"I want to speak with you," she meowed. "Alone. Over near Horseplace. I don't want any cat overhearing."

Hawkfrost nodded respectfully at her, for he had to make it seem like he didn't know what she wanted.

As soon as they were as far from the RiverClan camp, Mistyfoot stopped and faced him.

"What was up with you and Brightheart?" she asked.

"Nothing."

"I don't think so," Mistyfoot meowed briskly. "I saw you; you were leaning next to each other."

"I…we…I…"

"You like her, don't you?"

"I…" Hawkfrost stammered: he didn't know that answer. "Yes…I do like her, but not in a way to have her as my mate…"

Mistyfoot looked at him, considering the answer. "All right, I believe you. But just don't do that anymore, okay?"

"I won't, I promise."

"I'm going to send out hunting patrol, would you like to join us?"

"No thanks."

Mistyfoot looked at him surprised: she had clearly expected him to go with her and the patrol; it wasn't like Hawkfrost to take breaks.

"…Okay…"

Mistyfoot left: Hawkfrost watched her leave.

Hawkfrost went toward the medicine cats' den; he had to talk to Mothwing. The den was a tree with its roots dried out with a small pool of water around the roots. Mothwing had a moss bed in a space of grass on the tree, and sometimes she slept there during the day. But she wasn't there: Willowpaw was though, in the hole in the tree where they kept their supplies. She seemed to be looking for something.

"Where's Mothwing?" Hawkfrost asked.

"I can't help you right now, Hawkfrost. I'm trying to find the yarrow," Willowpaw answered, looking through the medicine piles.

"It's right below your feet," Hawkfrost offered.

"Oh! Found it!"

Willowpaw lied on her feet and put her head under a root, and she came out with yarrow.

"Alright." She turned to Hawkfrost. "What was it you needed?"

"I want to know where Mothwing is: I need to talk to her, it's important," Hawkfrost meow-ed.

"I think she's outside laying down snoozing," Willowpaw answered.

"That's weird, because I didn't see her outside."

"Look around the place. She's bound to be somewhere around here: you know how she is about being the best medicine cat she can be."

"Right. I'll check around camp to see if she's around."

"You do that."

Hawkfrost winced as he left the den; he knew it wasn't StarClan who chose Mothwing to become the next medicine cat, because he _himself _had tricked Mudfur, the medicine cat then, to take her as his apprentice with a torn moth's wing.

Mudfur had thought it was a sign: that's how she was accepted, because of the moth's wing. But Hawkfrost now knew the price he paid by faking the sign, because thanks to him, RiverClan's medicine cat Mothwing didn't believe in StarClan, the warrior ancestors. When he had told her he had tricked Mudfur, she took the dream of meeting StarClan a normal dream; he had shattered her faith into tiny bite-size pieces.

And Hawkfrost himself believed in StarClan.

He smelled Mothwing's scent; he knew she was nearby because of it. He followed it behind the warriors' den: she was sleeping. He knew that because she was curled up in a ball, her tail tucked underneath her, and he saw her breathing softly and slightly.

_Figures_, he thought. _She's taking what is called "a break." When she's _supposed _to be doing her medicine cat duty_.

She must have sensed his presence, because as he walked closer to her she woke up, and she knew something was wrong.

"Hawkfrost."

"Mothwing. I'm so confused right now."

Mothwing got up and began walking away, leading; she must have known they needed privacy by the look on her brother's face.

"Then let's go."

"Where to?"

"Someplace safe."

He followed her to the river, where the Twoleg bridge was. It was far from cats' ears and no one really went there because there was no need to go there: the perfect place for Hawkfrost to spell his troubles.

Mothwing sat down, tail tucked around her, eyes bright and concerned, looking at her brother, and he sat to.

"Tell me where it all began."

Hawkfrost told her about the Gathering, about how he briefly entwined tails with Brightheart, about how they were confused by it; he skipped seeing his father, though, Mothwing had no idea about seeing Tigerstar in his dreams.

"Why did you do it?"

"The tail-thing?"

"Yes, that. Why?"

"Because I got all emotional," Hawkfrost answered. But even he knew that was half the truth: there was more to the story then he let on, even he knew it.

"Tell me when you saw her for the first time, before you even spoke to her," Mothwing pressed. "About what you felt. About how you reacted."

"My heart skipped a beat," Hawkfrost commented, remembering how he had been bewildered by how beautiful Brightheart was. "I…I thought that she was the most beautiful cat there, and when I spotted her, everyone disappeared."

"You mean from view? You saw only her and her alone?"

"For a moment, yeah," Hawkfrost mewed. "It felt like time froze, like everything was in slow motion."

"Alright. Continue to the battle, I want to know about that."

Hawkfrost briefly explained about the fox, the boulders (not that they had mysteriously ap-peared out of nowhere, he skipped that) skipping the part about Tigerstar (again,) and about how suspicious Mistyfoot was when she spotted them.

"And how did you feel when Brightheart leaned against you?"

"I…I felt…_happy_."

"_Happy?_"

"Yeah," Hawkfrost meowed. "Happy. Happy because she felt so close, that I didn't want that moment to end, like nothing in the world was better than that."

He briefly told her about him almost saying he loved her.

"You—you—you _love her?_" Mothwing gasped.

"Yeah, I do."

Hawkfrost felt uneasy telling his sister that: even though he knew she was his sister, he was worried she might tell someone.

"Hawkfrost…."

"I know, I know, she's from a different Clan. But what I feel is real, Mothwing, and nothing can change that."

"No, Hawkfrost," Mothwing meowed. "You don't understand: I'm actually _happy _and _proud _that you've found someone to love, I'm happy for you, I really am."

Hawkfrost was bewildered; he never thought Mothwing would actually be _happy _for him, even if it was Brightheart.

"I'm meeting her tonight."

"You are?" Now it was Mothwing's turn to be surprised. "Tonight? Where? And when?"

"By a big oak tree, near WindClan's border, moonhigh. Brightheart has her powers; she said that I'd be invisible when I leave camp."

"Oh. But why? Don't you think it's too far? Too much?"

Hawkfrost explained his dreams about meeting Brambleclaw and Tigerstar and Tigerstar's big dream for the future. He told her about Scourge and Sasha. And about how Tigerstar wanted him to get close to Brightheart.

"But before you met Brightheart, you were thinking of the plan, right?"

"Yeah, I was. But ever since I met her, I don't think I'll be doing that anymore."

"You're meeting her because _you _want to, right? Not because Tigerstar ordered you?"

"No. Full me, I promise."

"Okay."

Mothwing licked Hawkfrost's cheek; he leaned against her, comforted about how caring his sister was.

"Just promise me that when the pressure's on with you between Tigerstar, do what you heart is saying and what you think is right."

"I will."

**(I know, I know. I like romance! But the million dollar question is, and NOT literally a million dollars...if only...but anyway, is: Will Hawkfrost listen to his heart, or to his father? Give me your feedback and answers!)**


	10. Chapter 8

**(I know that fanfiction doesn't allow song-fics, but my story does have singing in it, BUT the songs are MY OWN CREATION. No one has heard of them yet. So, yeah. Enjoy! Oh, and, I DO NOT own _Warriors_. Erin Hunter does. I wish I could be one of the co-authors, though! So, just to remind you, I DO NOT OWN _WARRIORS!_)**

C H A P T E R 8

_Brightheart couldn't believe that her friends _had gotten their warriors names; they really did deserve them after a fight like that. Scarclaw was fine; she just had to rest a couple of days in the medicine cat den.

Now that Brambleshadow, Stoneshadow's and Hawkshadow's sister, had her name, it was eas-ier to tell between her and Bramblebreath. Even Swiftclaw and Rockclaw had gotten their warrior names, even if they really didn't do anything. Now that her friends got the warrior names, they'd all be having their vigil that night, just like she had.

She still couldn't believe how close she had been to hear Hawkfrost tell her how he felt about her: she had been waiting and Mistyfoot had interrupted them. If only she had waited a couple more seconds!

But that was okay, because tonight Brightheart would sneak out met Hawkfrost at the oak tree. The only problem was _getting _out of camp; she knew that the Clan would be abuzz about their recent victory. Plus, she didn't know if any StarClan cat would disturb the meeting: the entire thing, about meeting Hawkfrost, and being in love with him, was wrong. She shouldn't be in love with _him_, at least, and yet she was: if she went back in time to stop herself from doing so she'd do the same thing over again, because what she felt was real.

"Brightheart?"

"Huh?"

Brightheart turned to see Barkface; she hadn't heard him approach her. He was looking at her courisly, as if he could read her thoughts.

"Are you okay? You seem to be nauseous; you can't stop swaying back and forth. Do you feel sick in any way?"

"No."

Barkface looked into her eyes: Brightheart felt rigid at how his gaze made her uneasy, she didn't like how he was observing her.

"Brightheart…you seem…_love struck_," Barkface whispered.

"What? How?"

"Is there any tom that you really like?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because I need to know: you never know if you love a tom so much you end up….having kits…."

Brightheart's eyes widened at the thought: she didn't think of how the Clan would react if they found out about her love for Hawkfrost.

"…So there is someone?"

"So what? I'm not telling you."

"…Is it Hawkfrost?"

Brightheart looked the medicine cat shocked: she couldn't believe it if he knew somehow.

"What? A _RiverClan _cat? No way!" Brightheart tried to say it quickly, so he wouldn't ask anymore courisly-type questions.

But Barkface had seen her reaction; he knew it was Hawkfrost because she denied it. He knew something was up: he could feel it in the air, she was waiting for something.

"Brightheart, if you're planning to meet him tonight…"

"I'm going and you can't stop me!" Brightheart hissed so quietly that Barkface had to strain to hear.

"…I'm not saying I'm going to stop you from meeting him tonight: I just want to know _why _you love him."

"He's cute, funny, handsome, and he's unlike any other cat I've ever met," Brightheart answered.

Barkface sighed; he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her. "Just be careful, okay? I wouldn't want you to be caught; your family is as big as it can get right now."

"Are you saying you're afraid I'll end up having _Hawkfrost's kits?_"

Barkface didn't answer; he knew that she knew what he meant. He turned and walked away.

Stoneshadow and Hawkshadow were talking with their sister, Brambleshadow; they were so excited to be warriors. Swiftclaw and Rockclaw were on a patrol to see if the foxes had completely left the area: you could never be sure if they were still lingering around. Mouseclaw and Flowerclaw were with Scarclaw, talking, while Barkface was checking for more injuries on the dark brown she-cat.

On the corner of her eye Brightheart saw her mother chatting quietly with Onestar. _Perhaps they're just talking about the battle_, Brightheart thought. _But what they weren't?_

Brightbreath beckoned her with her tail; she seemed to want to chat to her. Brightheart walked over slowly, wondering why the Clan deputy wanted to speak.

"Brightheart." Onestar was looking at her courisly, wondering why his deputy called her. Brightheart felt embarrassed under the WindClan leader's gaze, she didn't know why either.

"I'd like to speak with my kit in private, please," Brightbreath told Onestar.

Brightheart stiffened in embarrassment as her mother called her a "kit." She wasn't a kit anymore! She was a full grown warrior! But that didn't matter to Brightbreath now. She clearly still saw her daughter still a little, helpless, blind kit in the nursery.

Onestar left, walking toward Barkface, who was leading Scarclaw to the medicine den.

"Come." Brightbreath walked to the warriors' den, Brightheart following, not sure what to expect. What if Mistyfoot told her about Hawkfrost and her? Was she going to punish her?

The deputy lay down on the soft grass under the bramble bush. Brightheart repeated her, lying down as well, her muscles tense as she waited for the WindClan deputy to speak. _What does she know?_

"Are you okay?" her mother asked. "That was some brutal battle, I expect you to be scared, and after all, that was your first battle as a warrior."

Brightheart relaxed her muscles and curled her tail around her front paws; her mother was just scared about how she coped through the battle. The thing was, though, she _had _been scared, and she hadn't been sure how she'd cope if she was a normal cat.

"Yes, I am okay," she answered.

"Good." Her mother nodded, satisfied with her answer. Brightheart had a feeling that she wasn't concerned about that, though; there was something else her mother wanted to know.

"Mistyfoot told that you and Hawkfrost were rather…close after the battle."

Brightheart tensed her muscles: fur on end, ears prickled, and started kneading the ground with her front claws, not ready to answer just yet; she knew that somehow her mother would find out about that from the RiverClan deputy.

Brightbreath noticed how uncomfortable the statement was. "I see that you're uncomfortable, Brightheart," she mewed. "But I'm your deputy now: I'm not your mother anymore, I'm a senior warrior. And you're a warrior. I have my right to know these things, Brightheart; why else wouldn't Onestar choose me to be deputy?"

"I…I…" Brightheart stammered, trying to find words to answer the WindClan deputy's ques-tion. But she couldn't answer; there really weren't any words to tell why without telling her mother about the meeting that night. "…I'm so sorry; Brightbreath, but I really can't answer that."

"No?"

"No."

"Then I'm sorry to say this, Brightheart, but you're confided to stay in the camp for the night."

"WHAT?" Brightheart stood up, fur on end, and eyes gleaming in the darkness of the bram-ble bush, with her claws out. Night was coming soon: it was sunset; the sky was golden with yellow and red colors. If she couldn't leave the camp she wouldn't be able to see Hawkfrost! There must be a way to secure this! "You can't do that!"

"Actually, Brightheart, I _can_," Brightbreath told her. "You don't have a proper answer, so I'm making you stay in the camp."

"But—but—but—" Brightheart looked around, trying to find something to say to change her mother's mind: she _couldn't _miss the meeting! "But I have my rights!"

"Oh yeah? Does the warrior code say that young cats _can't _stay in camp because they can't answer a simple question?"

_No_. Brightheart knew the warrior code. There wasn't a law saying that, so her mother could confide her in camp of she wanted to. "No."

"Then it's settled."

Convinced the conversation was closed, Brightbreath left Brightheart in the bramble bush, calling out as she left, "I'm leading a hunting patrol! Who wants to join?"

Brightheart watched as Brambleshadow, Hawkshadow, Stoneshadow, and Crowfeather immediately volunteered.

Brightbreath checked the group, and then looked around the camp, looking for more cats. "Nightcloud! Leopardheart! Weaselfur! You're joining the sun-set hunting patrol!"

Weaselfur walked over, eyes gleaming at the new warriors. Nightcloud cursed quietly under her breath: she clearly didn't want to hunt with new warriors.

Weaselfur meowed to Brambleshadow, "Hi."

Brambleshadow blushed slightly; she clearly liked the ginger tom. "Hi," she murmured.

Her brothers looked at each other; they found something to tease her about. Brambleshadow noticed the gesture, and mouthed to them, "If you tell anyone, _you're dead meat_." This made them bristle startled: they didn't want to die.

The cats left, tails high, ready for good hunting. Onestar watched as they left, tail curled around his paws comfortably and eyes bright: he seemed content that his Clan was doing okay, they'll be ready for leaf-bare.

Brightheart walked out of the clearing, watching the sun set; soon it would be moon-high. She noticed Bramblebreath walking over to her; she really didn't know the tom. Not that she didn't like him, it was just that he seemed…too cheery at times.

"Hi, Brightheart!" The tom's eyes gleamed with excitement; he seemed to have enjoyed the recent battle. "Could you believe it that we drove out _foxes?_ They were huge; they were probally as big as loins!"

"Yeah, it was cool," Brightheart replied absent mindly. She was etching for the sun to set already. She wanted to see Hawkfrost. _C'mon! Hurry up! I want to go _now!

"Hey, are you okay? You look like you're thinking of something else."

"Just leave me alone! Why can't everyone leave me alone? I have things to do!" Brightheart hissed, swinging her head at Bramblebreath. She left him staring at her, confused and hurt, her tail swinging back and forth wildly.

_Everyone has to stick their nose into _my _life! Why can't they just leave me alone? I have a special meeting tonight, and I don't want to be late! _

Everyone was curious, sticking their heads into someone else's business; they had to gossip about life, too. She was tired of having secrets; she wanted a best friend to share things with. No one in her Clan seemed to be right, though. It had to be someone who was used with secrets, someone who could _truly _understand her, someone that she could trust with her life…someone like Hawkfrost.

_That's it! _Brightheart thought stubbornly. _I don't care what Brightbreath says! I'm _going _to see Hawkfrost tonight, and _no one _is going to stop me!_

Brightheart lay quietly on her moss, hearing the snoring and quiet murmurs of other cats as they slept. Brightbreath insisted that she stay near her at all times, as to make sure she didn't sneak off. _As if I'll sneak off _while _she's watching!_

She knew Hawkfrost had left already. It was past moon-high, and he had been waiting for almost an hour. _It's now or never_.

She made herself invisible; she could feel the change within her. She made a clone of her _exactly _like her, sleeping. Once she was sure her clone was in the same sleeping position she had been in, she left the bramble bush, feeling the thorns tear against her fur.

Crowfeather, Stoneshadow, and Hawkshadow were guarding the Clan; they were sitting opposite of each other facing different directions. The foxes had left now; they left the entire Clan area. Some special Twolegs had taken them away; WindClan would never see them again.

Stoneshadow was talking to Hawkshadow on how they could tease their sister on her crush on Weaselfur…loud enough for Crowfeather to hear.

"Can you guys pipe down? Do you _want _to wake up the Clan?" he grumbled. His tail-tip was twitching slightly, for he was about to lose his temper. If the two weren't careful they'd reach his boiling range, and _no cat _wanted that.

"Sorry…" Hawkshadow murmured. He sat a couple of feet away from his brother.

Brightheart rolled her eyes; toms could be so silly sometimes. She walked right past them; they didn't even know she was there, because they couldn't see her.

_Sometimes it pays to have powers! _Brightheart thought, smiling. Now she was out of camp, in the open. She could see horseplace in the distance: the horses weren't outside, because it was night-time, but she could see the oak tree and Hawkfrost waiting.

Her heart beating faster at the sight of him, her desire to be next to him grew, and she quickened in speed. Things flashed by her as she ran.

She slowed to a tip-toe as she came up from the other side of the oak. She climbed up and looked at Hawkfrost waiting for her, his dark brown fur somehow sparkling from the moon.

_I'll jump and surprise him!_ With that thought in mind, she jumped right on top of him.

"Yeeeerooooww!" Hawkfrost's silted eyes widened in surprise, big enough to fill his pupils; his fur went up completely straight, heading at the sky, his tail fluffed up and his claws out. He spun around on the ground, shifting so she was on her back, and pinned her.

"Dear StarClan Brightheart! You almost gave me a heart-attack! You could've killed me!" he gasped, his ice-blue eyes huge with amusement.

"Oh yeah?" Brightheart playfully hit him gently with her paw; he fell over to the ground, life-less. "What about now?"

"Oh! You killed me!" he gasped dramatically, his head looking up at her. "I…die!" His head slunk back to the ground with a small THUD.

"Oh, no! Whatever to I do?" Brightheart cried.

She gasped as Hawkfrost jumped to his feet and tackled her. "Now it's _your _turn to die!"

She batted her hind paws against his belly, claws sheathed. "Never!" She kicked hard upward, and Hawkfrost flew into the air.

"AAAHH!"

He twisted himself in the air, straightening his spine, and landed on three paws, one front in the air and his tail to balance. His eyes glowing, purring loudly, he meowed, "Whoo! What a rush!"

"That was a pretty cool move!" Brightheart commented. She had never seen a move like that before: it seemed new to her. Even she hadn't invented it yet: Hawkfrost must have made it.

"Why, thank you," Hawkfrost replied, walking up to her.

Brightheart tilted her head: she hadn't thought of something before until now. _What if I sing a song to him?_ Brightheart could sing music and make it; she understood pronunciation, rhythm, and timing. But she had never tried it before: maybe now was time to do it, in front of an audience. _Maybe he'll like it. Perhaps I could teach him to do it, too!_

"Is something wrong?" Hawkfrost asked, his blue eyes concerned, and he seemed worried if something was bothering her. "'Cause it looks like you're thinking."

"No, there's nothing wrong. But, I was thinking," Brightheart meowed, "if you'd like to hear a song?"

"A…song? Like, with music? And dancing?" Hawkfrost mewed, eyes narrowed at her. Brightheart couldn't tell if he liked the idea or not, because he didn't look the entertained type. "I didn't know you could do that."

"Well," Brightheart meowed sheepishly, "I've never really _tried _it before, and all I know is that I can do it."

"Well, then, let's see what you can do." Hawkfrost lied on the ground, paws tucked under-neath his chest and tail curled around his paws. "Go on," he encouraged, his tail beckoning her, "let's see if you can get me to dance."

Brightheart let out an _mrrow _of amusement. Hawkfrost didn't look like the dancing type! But, encouraged, she stood tall; she knew exactly how to start.

_Where were you,_

_When I was bored?_

_I needed something to look_

_Foreword to, and yet,_

_No one was there._

_I'm wondering right now,_

_In this bright lighted moonlight_

_If you're what I needed,_

_What I've been waiting for…._

She began the song on a piano: she had a slow beginning and then it'd rock out to some rock/pop mixture. Ever since the first verse, Hawkfrost had leaned forward in interest: now he narrowed his eyes, as if he was trying to guess what was coming up next.

Brightheart swept into the chorus, and she started to dance in rhythm to the beat.

_Who are you?_

_Where are you from?_

_I'm just wondering right now_

_If you're the thing I've wanted my whole life,_

_If you're the thing I've waited for._

_You're from a place I've never known,_

_You're like a dream,_

_Because what's happen' right now_

_Doesn't feel right._

_It feels like I'm dreaming,_

_And I don't ever want to wake up._

_I'm just wondering…_

_Who are you?_

Now the piano was gone completely. The song stayed in pop/rock rhythm: there was an electric guitar, drums, another guitar, and an electric piano. Hawkfrost was bewildered by the chorus; he must know that it meant him.

_Sitting here, around so many people_

_Makes me realize how different _

_I am from others._

_I see you walkin'_

_Up to me,_

_And you say, "Hello."_

_I didn't know you were_

_The kind of guy to be_

_A hero._

_You always seem_

_To speak your mind,_

_Even if you aren't supposed to._

_Who are you?_

_Where are you from?_

_I'm just wondering right now_

_If you're the thing I've wanted my whole life,_

_If you're the thing I've waited for._

_You're from a place I've never known,_

_You're like a dream,_

_Because what's happen' right now_

_Doesn't feel right._

_It feels like I'm dreaming,_

_And I don't ever want to wake up._

_I'm just wondering…_

_Who are you?_

Suddenly, while singing, Brightheart ran up to the tree, climbed it while running and jumped into the air, spinning around really quickly. When she landed she crouched and walked slowly, as if stalking prey. Then she walked to the side, spun around on one paw, walked to the other side, and repeated. When in the middle of the path she ran up to Hawkfrost, ran around him so fast he ended up spinning in place. She slowed down and just walked around him.

_Leaning against you now,_

_Being here with you now,_

_I don't want this to end._

_I don't want to sun to rise!_

_It'll end our time together!_

_I don't know where we're going,_

_I don't care,_

_Because you're everything I want._

_You're everything I need!_

Now at the last chorus, Hawkfrost actually joined her singing: he went to her side and they did the side-by-side flick: they both went the other way and spun on one paw.

Then, they ran to each other. With him knowing what to do, they jumped to each other's side in mid air, jumped back to the ground, stalked up, and walked on two feet, hind paws in the air.

They did a beat-boxing move, swiping their hind paw above the ground and their fronts sweeping around, tails straight to keep balance. Then they reared up on fronts again, and then bent their bodies so they'd land on their back feet. And lastly, they walked in a perfect circle, walking closer to each other.

_Who are you?_

_Where are you from?_

_I'm just wondering right now_

_If you're the thing I've wanted my whole life,_

_If you're the thing I've waited for._

_You're from a place I've never known,_

_You're like a dream,_

_Because what's happen' right now_

_Doesn't feel right._

_It feels like I'm dreaming,_

_And I don't ever want to wake up._

_I'm just wondering…_

_Who are you? (who are you?)_

_Who are….you….? (who are you…?)_

Brightheart made it end with the piano.

Hawkfrost's eyes were gleaming brightly; he had enjoyed the music making. He was itching on his paws; he wanted to make more songs.

"That was _amazing!_" he meowed. "That was awesome!"

Suddenly Brightheart realized how tired she was: her eyes were drooping from exhaustion, her muscles hurt from running around, and she kept swaying back and forth. Hawkfrost noticed it; he walked over and gently licked her ear.

"We should probably go to sleep. You can barely stand up," he murmured in her ear. His breath smelled faintly of fish, as if he had eaten earlier, and his scent was nice, it carried the scent of RiverClan and somehow the forest. She leaned against him, comforted by his smell.

But when she tried to walk, she sank to the ground, too tired to try. "I guess singing and dancing takes out all my energy," she muttered.

"It's okay." Hawkfrost went behind her and took her by the scruff of her neck. "I'll just carry you like a kit."

Brightheart purred softly. Hawkfrost was so nice to her, and he seemed to understand her more than any other cat she knew.

He carried her right up to the tree trunk: she was put down gently, and he walked around her, curling up against her body. Feeling the warmth of his soft, sleek fur, Brightheart closed her eyes and leaned against him. She heard purring behind her and felt the vibrations; his head was resting on her neck. She felt his tail go around her to her belly, pulling as close to him as she could get.

"You seem to be the only cat who understands me," she murmured.

"Brightheart?" she heard Hawkfrost murmur in her ear.

"Yes?" Brightheart turned her head and found her gazing in his ice-blue eyes. "What is it?"

"What I was trying to say, back in the battle," Hawkfrost began, "was…that….I love you."

Brightheart's heart beat faster at the words, and she somehow knew he could feel it, she could feel his heart beating faster, too.

"I…I love you, too," she murmured.

He pressed his nose against hers; he licked her ear and cheek. Suddenly, he kissed her. Brightheart was bewildered; she had never been kissed on the lips before. His lips left hers, and came back again, but this time on the sides of her mouth, and she felt his tongue go gently against hers. He stood up and walked over her and pressed his belly against hers, and she couldn't move: it was so quick. She blinked, and closed her eyes: the sensation felt somehow refreshing.

Ever so slightly his tongue left: he was done kissing her.

She blinked and looked at him, and purred deeply and loud enough for him to hear. "You never seemed like the kissing type," she mewed.

"Well, I had to try."

Hawkfrost bent down and started licking her again; she sat up straight and did the same. Pretty soon they were sharing tongues, which meant that they were grooming each other.

When the moon was almost starting to go down they curled up against the tree, and went to sleep. Brightheart feeling warm against Hawkfrost's fur, the two purred at each other, a sure sign saying that it was true love.

**(So what did you think of the song? Please give me your feedback!)**


	11. Chapter 9

**(I know that Scourge wouldn't be in the Dark Forest, but I put him in there. There are some funny parts in it. Enjoy this chapter! Read & Review! Reviews make me happy. :D You wouldn't want IHeartFantasy to be _sad_, would you?)**

C H A P T E R 9

_A tail brushed against Hawkfrost's nose_ and it made him sneeze loudly. Brightheart woke up, stood up, and stretched her muscles. Hawkfrost did the same.

They looked at each other; it was time to say good-bye.

"Can I see you again?" Brightheart asked.

"Sure," Hawkfrost answered. "In two nights, though. If we meet every night then someone will realize something."

"Right."

Brightheart leaned against him, and brushed her cheek with his, purring.

"Bye."

She ran off.

Hawkfrost sighed; he couldn't believe what had happened. But he knew that wasn't a problem: what _was _a problem, though, was that he was sure Tigerstar would have something to say about it.

Hawkfrost realized that the sun was almost coming up; he was relieved to being on the sun-high hunting patrol. He knew that Brightheart's powers were still working; he could feel the energy flowing through his veins.

He ran all the way to RiverClan's camp: Mistyfoot was there, patrolling the area; she must have known he'd try to meet Brightheart. _But she doesn't believe in her powers! _he thought happily. He tip-toed to his spot in the warriors' den, and curled up sleepily: even after seeing Brightheart and sleeping next to her, he was suddenly tired. The power had gone away.

Hawkfrost sighed happily and closed his eyes: he would never forget that night with Brightheart. And when he had heard she had loved him, he was silently overjoyed; he had never thought that a she-cat like her existed. And now, knowing how she felt about him and Hawkfrost feeling the same way, he couldn't help but think that they were meant for each other: Brightheart seemed to understand him better than anyone, even better than Mothwing.

Darkness was all around him: he felt nothing, he saw nothing, and he heard nothing. Yet he knew where he was: Tigerstar must have done it on purpose, as to punish him for joining with Brightheart's silly games. And then a light appeared in front of him, a couple of fox-lengths away. Hawkfrost walked toward it, not knowing where it headed.

Bright light blinded him for a moment, and he closed his eyes. He could smell Tigerstar, Sasha, Scourge, and a tom that a couple of dreams ago Tigerstar introduced to him: Brokenstar. And there was another scent….one he didn't know, but he knew the cat came from the Dark Forest.

He opened his eyes and saw a tom next to Tigerstar, with spiky fur. _I wonder who this is?_

Tigerstar saw his son and beckoned him with his tail. Hawkfrost walked over uncertain of the newcomer, not sure what to expect.

"Hawkfrost, I'd like you to meet my old mentor, Thistleclaw," Tigerstar meowed. "He taught me everything I know. I know all the battle moves I teach you and Brambleclaw thanks to him."

"Greetings," Thistleclaw meowed.

"Hi."

Hawkfrost didn't know why, but he felt uneasy being near all these murderous toms, who gave up the loyalty of the warrior code for going after their ambition. Scourge, of course, wasn't a Clan cat, but he counted because he did murder many cats in his life, including Hawkfrost's father.

Thistleclaw looked at Scourge, surprised. "Aren't you that kit I made Tigerstar attack when he was an apprentice?" he asked politely.

"Yes," Scourge hissed.

Thistleclaw blinked. "It's hard to believe you were that kit: I've heard the stories of Blood-Clan after I joined here when you died."

"I wouldn't have killed Tigerstar if _you _hadn't made him attack me!" Scourge snarled.

Thistleclaw's fur fluffed up. He was clearly offended at the retort. "You were in ThunderClan's territory! You were invading!"

"_I _was just looking around! I had never been in the forest before! _And _I was only a _kit!_" Scourge defended himself.

Hawkfrost caught Sasha's eye: she rolled at them, accusing the toms arguing at each other for no reason.

"I don't think that's a matter that shouldn't be discussed right now: the past is the past, and there's no need settling old arguments," Sasha cut in.

"She has a point," Brokenstar added.

Thistleclaw and Scourge looked at Sasha, thought about it, and sat down.

"Sorry. I wasn't thinking," Thistleclaw apologized.

"No problem," Scourge responded. "We sound like elders!"

Thistleclaw, Tigerstar, and Brokenstar looked at the smaller black tom, looked at each other, and started laughing. Scourge joined in.

Sasha was looking at them all like they were insane. "What do elders have to do with anything? Before Hawkfrost arrived, I thought Brokenstar and Thistleclaw were going to help with the plan! But no! Instead you're laughing like hyenas!"

All the toms looked at her, and started laughing again.

"'Laughing like hyenas' she says!" Thistleclaw croaked.

He fell over on his back and started rolling back and forth. Brokenstar was doing the same, but on his belly. Scourge was laughing so hard his voice sounded like a kit's. Tigerstar was pounding the ground with his paw, tears falling out of his eyes.

Sasha's mouth dropped from disbelieve, and Hawkfrost couldn't believe it either.

"You're like kits! What is wrong with you?"

At this, the toms laughed even harder.

Sasha looked at her son for help, her blue eyes alarmed. "Do something! They'll faint if they don't stop!"

"Guys!" Hawkfrost shouted. It didn't have any effect. "GUYS! BOYS!"

The shout completely caught the toms off guard; they jumped into the air, fur fluffed out, eyes alarmed by the sound.

"Alright, alright," Tigerstar meowed briskly. "We'll start the discussion." He looked at her, as if expecting her to leave. "Um, you can go now, Sasha. This is a business that only _toms _take charge of: you really wouldn't be interested."

Sasha looked at Tigerstar as if he had stung her with one of his claws. The she narrowed her eyes and hissed, "Oh, so you think I'm exasperation? Is that it? So you think I'm impaired? You think you're _so_ important, you think you're competent with being leader, don't you? Well, you should have been more gingerly with me!" With that, Sasha spun around and began walking to the tree.

Tigerstar got up and called after her, "Hey! There's no need to be ample about this! We can reconcile on this! Come back!" He began following her. "Sasha! We can talk about this!"

"Talk to the tail!" Sasha snapped. "You love being powerful and evil and mean more than me! Face the facts!"

"What?" Tigerstar stopped in his tracks; he looked like Sasha had stung him. "That's impossible! I _do _love you!"

"Too late!" Sasha scoffed. She disappeared into the tree.

Tigerstar walked up to the opening. "Oh, Sasha, why can't we talk about this?"

"Why not after your _meeting?_" Sasha growled, and she spat the last word.

Tigerstar walked inside. The next thing Hawkfrost knew, his father was thrown out of the tree and hit against another.

"Ouch! You're getting powerful! Maybe you should join us during our battle practices!" Tigerstar groaned, falling down.

"No thanks!"

Thistleclaw looked at his former apprentice, amused by his situation. "Man, you're in a pickle."

"Here's a question, Tigerstar," Scourge meowed. "Did you _really _think that Sasha would fall in love with me? Because it seems like you're _jealous _of how Sasha pays attention to _me _and not _you_."

"I'm not jealous! Why would I be jealous? Why would _Tigerstar_, former leader of ShadowClan and deputy of ThunderClan, the _greatest _warrior in the forest, be _jealous?_" Tigerstar meowed quickly. But he had said it too quickly; Hawkfrost could see he was burning in embarrassment.

"Oh, alright," he mewed, when he saw that the other toms and his son didn't believe him, "you caught me. I am jealous. Why wouldn't I be, when my mate is spending her time cooing over another tom? And a smaller one at that?"

Scourge walked over to Tigerstar and rested his tail on Tigerstar's shoulder. "I get it: you're used to her paying attention to you and you feel like I'm interfering. I don't mean it."

"Sorry…"

"Hello?" Hawkfrost interrupted. "I'm still here."

"Right, right!" Tigerstar walked up to his son. "I was wondering if you started meeting Brightheart."

Hawkfrost's heart stopped for a beat. What if his father had seen them? Did he know? "Actually," he started, "I did start meeting her."

"Huh?" Tigerstar meowed. He hadn't expected this at all. What had his son been doing? "When? Where?"

"Tonight. At moonhigh. It is well past now, though. At an oak tree near horseplace."

"What! In WindClan territory?"

"She used her powers to make me invisible!" Hawkfrost added. Did his father think she had powers? But what if she hadn't? Did she lie to him? Or was it pure luck?

"Oh, her _powers!_" Tigerstar snarled. "She shouldn't have been born! She's half-Clan!"

"I am too!" Hawkfrost hissed, letting his long, curled claws sink into the ground. "And do you say anything bad about me?"

"You're my son!" Tigerstar meowed. "I'd never say anything like that about you! But _she _deserves it! Her birth alone is forbidden! And she's the subject of that _stupid _prophecy!"

"What prophecy?" Hawkfrost asked. He hadn't known this. Surely Brightheart would've told him if she was? What if she didn't trust him enough?

"_There is a cat whose heart is as bright as the stars. She understands the making of music; she will begin a generation of change for the Clans_," Tigerstar resighted, his voice sounding grave. But somehow Hawkfrost knew he wasn't telling the entire prophecy.

"That isn't all of it, is there?" he commented. "What's the rest of it?"

"_But be warned: some things along the way of her journey will be painful_."

Hawkfrost stared at his father, not sure if he was making that up. But Tigerstar's expression told him that it really was a warning: it was the warning of the prophecy.

But Hawkfrost didn't understand it. But there were hints, though: _whose heart is as bright as the stars_. That must mean Brightheart of WindClan, the cat he was in love with.

"What did you do when you met her?" Tigerstar asked, his tail twitching slightly, as if he was afraid of the answer.

Hawkfrost told his father about how Brightheart had startled him, her song, how he joined in, and how they feel asleep. He skipped kissing her and revealing their feelings for each other: he was aware of the others, including Sasha, listening. He could feel their gaze. He knew what Tigerstar would say if he told his father for his feelings for Brightheart.

When he was finished, Tigerstar narrowed his eyes at him. Hawkfrost felt his pelt burn; Tigerstar knew he wasn't telling the full truth.

He felt a sharp pain in his head, as if someone hit him hard with claws unsheathed. _He's trying to read my mind!_ Hawkfrost thought terrified. If Tigerstar broke through, he could see into his memories and find out the truth!

Hawkfrost closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. _He can't break through. I won't let him. He'll never find out the truth. Never! _He felt a strange calmness reach him, pushing the pain away, pushing Tigerstar out of his mind.

Tigerstar growled softly. Hawkfrost was too strong; he couldn't break through his web protecting his thoughts.

_Yes! _Hawkfrost thought happily. _I did it! But how? _Pure instinct told him that his love for Brightheart had given him her powers. _Cool!_

"You don't feel a certain way about Brightheart, do you?"

Hawkfrost looked into his father's eyes: he saw that Tigerstar was worried and was afraid of what his son would answer. "No. I feel nothing toward her. She means nothing to me. Only my duty to my Clan and to the plan matters."

Tigerstar looked at him. Hawkfrost matched his gaze equally. Tigerstar narrowed his eyes at him. Tension passed between them: Hawkfrost could almost feel it; everything in sight except his father began to dissolve to nothingness.

"I believe you," Tigerstar told him. "But in the waking world it's almost mourning: I'm afraid our time is up. Tomorrow night, then." The dark tabby dipped his head at Hawkfrost and he returned it.

Hawkfrost murmured goodbyes to the other toms. He began walking away when he heard Sasha hiss, "Come to me. I want to see you."

He walked up to the tree trunk and walked inside.

Sasha was sitting up, her tail curled around her paws, and her eyes glowed in the darkness. It looked like she knew something; there was a faraway look in her eyes. Hawkfrost padded up to her.

"You lied to him, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You love Brightheart."

"I do. And with all my heart."

"Okay. But be very careful: sooner or later Tigerstar _will _find out. Nothing can keep hid-den from him."

"I will be."

Hawkfrost woke up to find Swallowtail looking at him. She was looking at him intensely, as if something had just happened and he needed to know about it. His fur prickled with uneasiness. What was so important he needed to know?

"Leopardstar thinks Leopardpaw and Spottedpaw deserve their warrior names," Swallowtail informed him as he got up and stretched. "Leopardpaw is waiting outside for you; Sandbreath and her brother are already waiting for the ceremony to start."

"Alright. I'm coming."

Hawkfrost walked out of the warrior den with Swallowtail behind him. When Leopardpaw noticed his scent, she turned around and ran up to him.

"Can you believe it? I'm becoming a warrior!" the she-cat was bouncing up and down in her excitement.

"Whoa, calm down!" Hawkfrost scolded. "No apprentice of mine is going to look like a kit at her _warrior _ceremony!"

Leopardpaw immediately sat down. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm just so excited; I've been waiting for this for moons!"

Hawkfrost remembered how excited he had been at his warrior ceremony. His fur had felt like it was on fire and he couldn't stop fidgeting. _My very first apprentice, already becoming a warrior_, he thought. _I never thought this day would come._

"I'm excited too," he told her. "You were my very first apprentice; I was so surprised to be chosen for you. You'll be a great warrior. It was a journey for both of us."

Leopardpaw's eyes glinted as his praise. Hawkfrost couldn't help remembering when Mothwing had suggested taken her as a mate. _Does she love me? _He probed her mind; she did love him, but like an older brother. _That's a relief! I don't know what I would have done if she loved me like a mate!_

"Today is a new day, a great day for having new warriors," Leopardstar's voice spoke from on the rock she sat on.

Hawkfrost and Leopardpaw walked up to Sandbreath and Spottedpaw, who were in the middle of the clearing, and sat down next to them.

"Spottedpaw, Leopardpaw, come forward," Leopardstar beckoned with her tail. The two apprentices walked up to her, pelts brushing, tails high and eyes glistening with excitement.

"I, Leopardstar, leader of RiverClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down these apprentices." Spottedpaw's claws were itching in and out; Leopardpaw sat straight up, looking at her leader with interest as Leopardstar continued.

Hawkfrost cocked his head at her. _Does she want to become RiverClan's next leader?_

"They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." The two littermates stood up tall. "Spottedpaw and Leopardpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend this Clan, even at the cost of your lives?"

"I do," Leopardpaw meowed, meaning her word.

"I do," Spottedpaw repeated, eyes sparkling.

"Then by the power of StarClan I give you your warrior names." Leopardstar jumped down to Spottedpaw. "Spottedpaw, from this moment you shall be known as Spottedbreath. StarClan honors your determination and courage." She turned to Leopardpaw. "Leopardpaw, you shall be known as Leopardbreath. StarClan honors you skills and loyalty. We welcome both of you as full warriors of RiverClan."

Leopardpaw bent her head and rested it on both their heads; the new warriors liked her shoulder respectfully.

"Leopardbreath! Spottedbreath!" yowled Hawkfrost, starting the cheer, his eyes glowing with happiness. _She's a warrior now…I wonder if Wildbreath is watching…_

Wildbreath had been Brightbreath's sister, but she chose to live in her father's Clan. She fell in love with Sandbreath, and gave birth to his kits, Spottedkit and Leopardkit. They had been born in the winter. Wildbreath died of greencough, and in replacement Mosspelt volunteered to help the poor motherless kits live.

He knew that their mother was with them: he could actually see her cheering along with her Clan. For a second she looked at him, and he stiffened at her gaze. What did she want from him? Was there something she wanted to say? He wanted for Wildbreath to start talking to him, but she turned her head and murmured in both of her kits' ears.

_Probally saying how proud she is of them._

"Do you want to go hunting?" Swallowtail's voice murmured in his ear. He turned to her: her eyes were glowing, and he felt a strong emotion coming from her. Suddenly he realized it was _love _he was feeling! _She loves me! But I love Brightheart! But she doesn't know that…_

Not wanting to be rude, he meowed, "Sure."

Swallowtail led the way to the river. Hawkfrost followed wordlessly, not wanting to say something in case she got suspicious. _Should I tell her about Brightheart? What would she say? What would she _do? _Swallowtail is a nice she-cat, I can admit that, but I love Brightheart. I've always thought of Swallowtail as a good friend, not as a mate. Besides, it was _after _I met Brightheart I realized Swallowtail loved me._

They were at the river; he could hear the gentle murmuring of its current. Swallowtail approached it, sat down, and waited for a fish to appear underneath the water. A couple of moments passed, when suddenly there was a splash: Swallowtail dove her head underwater and came up with a plump fish.

She looked at Hawkfrost, eyes gleaming. She laid her prey down, and meowed to him, "Aren't you going to fish too?"

"Oh!" Hawkfrost mewed; he hadn't realized he had been just watching her. "Yeah, I'll do that." He walked up to the river, well aware she was watching. He waited for a couple of seconds, when a fish came right in his sights; he dug his claws into the flesh of it, brought it out, and quickly gave it a killing bite.

"That's what I've always admired you for, Hawkfrost," Swallowtail murmured as he set it down. "You're always trying to do things exactly right, never stopping to hunt for the Clan or do border patrols, never giving up in a fight. That's why I love you."

Hawkfrost stiffened; he hadn't thought she'd bring it up so quickly. He hadn't thought about what he'd respond. What could he say? What _should _he say? That there was someone else?

"Hawkfrost?" asked Swallowtail. She had noticed he had stiffened. "Is there something wrong?" When he didn't answer, she lowered her head, muttering, "Maybe I shouldn't have brought that up."

Hawkfrost turned to her; Swallowtail at least needed an explanation. "Swallowtail." She looked up at him when he said her name. "It's not that I don't love you, it's just I think of you as a fine, good friend."

Swallowtail looked at him, letting his words sink in. "There's some other cat, isn't there?" she asked.

"Yes. Yes, there is."

"I'm not going to ask who you're in love with," she told him calmly. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"It's Brightheart," Hawkfrost whispered.

"Brightheart of WindClan?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, then." Swallowtail nuzzled her muzzle against his cheek. "I hope you two are happy." She gazed into his ice-blue eyes. "If you need help, Hawkfrost, I'm here."

She picked up her fish and began walking back to camp. Swallowtail turned back, mur-muring, "If you guys ever have a family, the kits would be beautiful." She sounded like she meant it.

Hawkfrost sighed as Swallowtail disappeared from sight: Mothwing and Sasha weren't the only ones who knew now. He just hoped Swallowtail wouldn't tell anyone. _She won't_, he thought. _She wouldn't tell if anyone threatened her: that's why I trust her as a good friend_.

**(I have decided to have polls. My first question is: if you were a _Warriors _cat, what would you look like?)**


	12. Chapter 10

**(Sorry for the late updates. Been really busy because of school, friends, and hobbies. And also because of my new Sims 3 game for my PS3! I own the computer version, too, but I wanted the PS3 version, so I got it.)**

C H A P T E R 1 O

"_Brambleshadow, Weaselfur, Crowfeather, Nightcloud, Brightheart, and _Leopardheart, you're the sun-high hunting patrol," Brightbreath meowed. It was mourning; a day after Brightheart had sneaked off to see Hawkfrost. Brightbreath flicked her golden-yellow tail; the warriors walked away, tails high and eyes gleaming. "Go."

Brightheart and Brambleshadow walked next to each other, bodies brushing each other: their ranks weren't high enough to lead the patrols yet. Weaselfur was up ahead, behind Leopardheart, flanking Nightcloud, with Crowfeather in front.

"Don't you think Weaselfur is cute?" Brambleshadow whispered to her best friend: Brightheart had been Brambleshadow's best friend since they were kits.

"A little bit," replied Brightheart quietly. _But not as cute as Hawkfrost. Don't you dare say that aloud! _"Don't let Hawkshadow and Stoneshadow hear you: they just might let the entire Clan know you're in love with Weaselfur!"

"Please!" Brambleshadow scoffed. "Why would they do that? I could just let the Clan know that Stoneshadow had a crush on Mouseclaw!"

"He does?" Brightheart gasped: she had never seen the brown tabby tom use any romantic gestures to Mouseclaw. "How did you find that out? Did he tell you?"

"Of course not!"

For a moment Brambleshadow forgot to be quiet: Weaselfur looked in their direction right at her.

"What'cha talking about?" he asked.

"Girl things," Brightheart told him.

"Ah," he meowed, nodding, and looked the other way.

"I overheard him telling Hawkshadow when we were still apprentices, a couple of days before your warrior ceremony," Brambleshadow whispered. "He saw me and made me swear not to anyone."

"But you told me," Brightheart stated.

"He didn't say to swear it to StarClan," mewed Brambleshadow, shrugging.

Nightcloud looked at them. "Are we going to be chatting or are we going to do a sun-high _hunting _patrol?" she called to them.

"Sorry!" Brambleshadow answered. "I'll look for something!"

"You better _find _something or you'll _be _something!" growled Nightcloud.

Alarmed, Brambleshadow ran in another direction, sniffing for prey.

Weaselfur looked at Brightheart and meowed, "I'll help her." He ran to catch up to Brambleshadow; her tail just disappeared behind some grass. Brightheart purred at the thought of her friend just might end up being mates with her crush; there just might be more kits in WindClan's future.

Brightheart caught the scent of rabbit and saw it chewing on some grass; it had not noticed cats walking right past it. Quickly running over, she clawed it; it let out a squeak of shock before she killed it.

"Nice catch!" meowed Leopardheart. "It didn't even see you!"

"Before gasping out of shock," muttered Nightcloud.

Nightcloud's boredom didn't bother Brightheart; she had been praised by an older warrior and her kin.

"Nightcloud, I think I smell squirrel over near the ThunderClan border. Why don't we go check it out?" Crowfeather asked the black she-cat.

"Sure. Why not?"

They both ran off to the stream that was the border between WindClan and Thunder-Clan, pelts brushing against each other, together so closely they almost looked like shadows.

Leopardheart looked at Brightheart. "I don't why he's chosen her: I can tell that he doesn't really love her, he just chose her because she's WindClan and a good choice for our Clan."

Brightheart nodded. She knew about how Leafpool, ThunderClan's medicine cat, had fallen in love with Crowfeather, and they had run away from their Clans to be together, but something had drawn them back.

Leopardheart caught a mouse; she turned to the younger warrior. "Why don't we catch some more prey?"

Brightheart nodded: the Clan needed food in order to survive.

After awhile, they met back where they had separated: Weaselfur and Brambleshadow had caught a young rabbit; it had only just come out of its den for the first time before the two cats had ambushed it. Crowfeather had a squirrel, probally the one he had been talking about, for his eyes were shining with happiness. Nightcloud surprisingly caught a bird; its feathers were ruffled from where she had grasped it with her claws. Leopardheart had two mice and Bright-heart had her rabbit and one mouse.

"This was a successful hunt. I say we go back to the Clan and show Onestar how much we've caught!" Crowfeather meowed.

As they began walking back, they heard a sneeze from behind a rock.

"Huh?" mewed Brambleshadow, sniffing the air. "Is that…is that _ShadowClan _I smell?"

Brightheart sniffed the air; she caught a whiff of pine trees from behind the boulder.

She jumped on top of the boulder.

"What are you doing here?" she hissed, and gasped. The cat had caught the biggest rabbit she had ever seen! And she had eaten it on _WindClan _territory!

Nightcloud walked around it. She gasped. "We must take her to our camp! She deserves punishment! That rabbit could have fed the entire Clan!" she snarled.

"What is your name?" growled Crowfeather.

"Rainpaw," the she-cat answered calmly.

_She's not even afraid_, Brightheart thought. _This is a weird cat…_

The cats circled around Rainpaw and walked her toward the camp.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the ShadowClan camp?" asked Brambleshadow.

"Yeah…but I don't really like to follow rules," Rainpaw answered.

"But you end up punished," Crowfeather meowed.

Rainpaw snorted. "Rules are _meant _to be broken."

The WindClan cats looked at each other. One thing was for sure, this was one of the strangest cats they had ever met.

**(Reviews are like love! Plz review!)**


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